The Small Business Administration (SBA) said it will move several offices from cities with sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants as part of a broader Trump administration effort to stem illegal immigration.
The SBA statement did not say where the offices will be moved.
“Over the last four years, the record invasion of illegal aliens has jeopardized both the lives of American citizens and the livelihoods of American small business owners,“ SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said. ”Under President Trump, the SBA is committed to putting American citizens first again – starting by ensuring that zero taxpayer dollars go to fund illegal aliens.”
Loeffler, a former Georgia senator, said that the SBA will also “cut off access to loans for illegal aliens and relocate our regional offices out of sanctuary cities that reward criminal behavior.”
“We will return our focus to empowering legal, eligible business owners across the United States – in partnership with the municipalities who share this Administration’s commitment to secure borders and safe communities,” she added.
The SBA doesn’t give out direct loans, except when they’re related to disasters, but it works with lenders to distribute loans to small businesses. The loans typically have better rates than traditional loans.
There’s no specific definition for sanctuary city policies. Such municipalities generally are run by Democratic administrations and limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration agents. Republicans and President Donald Trump have been largely critical of such policies.
Last year, Trump said on the campaign trail that if he became president, his administration would move to target so-called sanctuary cities and illegal immigrants who committed crimes. He also said that he would call on Congress to ban such policies.
“As soon as I take office, we will immediately surge federal law enforcement to every city that is failing—which is a lot of them—to turn over criminal aliens, and we will hunt down, capture every single gang member, drug dealer, rapist, murderer, and migrant criminal that is being illegally harbored,” he said during a campaign rally in September 2024 in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Several Democratic mayors, including Eric Adams of New York, Mike Johnston of Denver, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, and Michelle Wu of Boston, last week faced questions from House lawmakers regarding their immigration policies.
Johnston told the House panel that he believes Republicans are misrepresenting such laws.
“We know there are myths about these laws. But we must not let mischaracterizations and fearmongering obscure the reality that Chicago’s crime rates are trending down,” Johnson told the committees. “We still have a long way to go, but sensationalizing tragedy in the name of political expediency is not governing. It’s grandstanding.”
