Sen. Lindsey Graham calls sanctuary cities ‘massive fraud’ on Americans
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Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham blasted sanctuary cities as places that encourage “massive fraud” and said President Donald Trump is working on a plan to eliminate sanctuary city policies.
Graham, who told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday that he had spoken to Trump, said the president would be “reasonable” with Minneapolis leaders in their attempts to quell anti-ICE unrest in the state, but ultimately would not bow to sanctuary city policies.
“What Donald Trump won’t do is avoid dealing with sanctuary city politics,” he said. “President Trump is working with me and others to introduce a bill to the United States Senate to end and eliminate the sanctuary city policy once and for all.”
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“All 12 states that do this will be punished if they don’t change,” Graham warned.
“You can never maintain law and order with sanctuary city policies.”
On Sunday, Trump called on Congress to pass legislation to “end” sanctuary jurisdiction policies in a post on Truth Social.
A person holds an anti-IC banner as demonstrators rally during a general strike protesting U.S. President Donald Trump’s deployment of immigration enforcement officials in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 23, 2026. (Tim Evans/Reuters)
His appointment comes amid White House tensions with Minnesota officials over clashes between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with domestic agitators. on January 24 Border Patrol agents killed Alex Pretti, 37, is the second Minneapolis resident to be fatally shot by federal agents this year.
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Still, Pretti’s death appears to have prompted a reset in the Trump administration’s crackdown strategy on immigrants in Minnesota. After much criticism following Pretti’s shooting, Trump reassigned Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino from Minneapolis and dispatched “border czar” Tom Homan.
Murdered college student Laken Riley from Georgia (left) next to a picture of the memorial honoring Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal law enforcement (right). (Laken Riley via Getty Images/Facebook)
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and President Trump agreed they had a productive phone call Monday regarding the anti-ICE unrest. Homan arrived in Minnesota on Tuesday and met separately with Walz and Frey.
According to Walz’s office, Walz and Homan “agreed on the need for an ongoing dialogue and will continue to work toward these goals.”
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Collaboration between Trump administration officials and Democratic leaders in Minnesota marked a notable shift in tone following Homan’s arrival, but differences remain. While the Trump administration has called on local officials to comply with ICE requests to detain illegal immigrants, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said he will not enforce federal immigration laws.
Lindsey Graham defends sanctuary city laws 12 states They will continue to be divisive and “the root of the problem.”
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Y) announced that Senate Democrats will not support a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security following the deadly shooting involving a border patrol officer in Minnesota on Saturday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“This literally encourages more illegal immigration,” Graham told “Hannity.” “This is a huge invitation to fraud and a violation of law and order. And what happened in Minnesota is a result of the state ignoring the laws that exist to help people.”
Financing Department of Homeland Security It expires Jan. 30 as Senate Democrats push for ICE reforms and spending cuts.
