Tipsheet

DNC Co-Chair: Not Giving Sanctuary To Illegals Is Like Not Helping Jews Escape Nazi Germany

The fallout from the Trump administration’s plan to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program sent liberals into spasms of anger and rage. Beneath the hyper-emotionalism rests this fact: it was either a gradual wind down or a nationwide injunction. The White House lawyers felt rightly that DACA in its current form would be indefensible in court. Ten Republican state attorneys general threatened a lawsuit if this immigration issue wasn’t resolved. There’s a six-month enforcement delay, so that Congress can pass a DACA-like program on safe legal ground. Yet, the president reaching out to Democrats on this issue has not been receptive within the Democratic ranks. Immigration activists ambushed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) over her possibly working with the Trump White House on this matter.

With sanctuary cities, it’s another legal fight. A federal judge recently ruled that the attorney general couldn’t withhold grant money from cities that have adopted this policy. California is taking it a step further, making itself a sanctuary state. There are arguments that can be made for both sides, but as always, when you invoke the Nazis—rationale goes out the window. 

Democratic National Committee co-chair Keith Ellison (D-MN) said that every illegal immigrant should be given sanctuary, saying that the situation is no different than the Jews fleeing from the Nazis.

“I’m going to tell you right now, I’m one of them people who believes you should give your neighbors sanctuary,” he said. “If you ask yourself, ‘what would I do if I was a gentile in 1941 if my Jewish neighbors were under attack by the Nazis? Would I give them sanctuary?’ … You might be about to find out what you would do,” he added.