Sen. Lindsey Graham calls sanctuary cities ‘massive fraud’ on Americans

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized sanctuary cities, calling them places ripe for “massive fraud” and said President Donald Trump was working on a plan to eliminate sanctuary city policies.

Telling Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday that he had spoken to Trump, Graham said the president would be “reasonable” with Minneapolis leaders in his attempts to quell anti-ICE unrest in the state, but ultimately would not bow to sanctuary city policies.

“What Donald Trump will not do is avoid tackling the policy of sanctuary cities,” he said. “President Trump is working with me and others to introduce a bill to the United States Senate to forever end and eliminate the sanctuary city policy.”

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“The 12 states that are doing this will be punished if they don’t change,” Graham warned.

“You can never have law and order with sanctuary city policies.”

On Sunday, Trump called on Congress to pass legislation to “end” sanctuary jurisdiction policies in an article in Truth Social.

A person holds an anti-ICE sign as demonstrators gather during a general strike to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s deployment of immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 23, 2026. (Tim Evans/Reuters)

His message comes amid tensions between the White House and Minnesota officials over confrontations between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and local agitators. On January 24, Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, is the second Minneapolis resident shot and killed by federal agents this year.

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Yet Pretti’s death appears to have prompted a reset of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown strategy in Minnesota. After widespread criticism following the Pretti shooting, Trump reassigned Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino from Minneapolis and sent in “border czar” Tom Homan.

Slain Georgia student Laken Riley (left) next to an image of a memorial for Alex Pretti killed by federal law enforcement officers (right). (Getty Images/Laken Riley via Facebook)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and President Trump both agreed they had a productive phone call Monday about the anti-ICE unrest. Homan arrived in Minnesota on Tuesday and met with Walz and Frey separately.

Walz and Homan “agreed on the need for continued dialogue and will continue to work to achieve these goals,” according to Walz’s office.

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Cooperation between Trump administration officials and Minnesota Democratic leaders marked a notable shift in tone after Homan’s arrival, but differences remain. As the Trump administration urged local authorities to comply with ICE requests to detain illegal migrants, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he would not enforce federal immigration laws.

Lindsey Graham defended sanctuary city laws in 12 states will continue to divide and are the “source of the problem”.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that Senate Democrats would not support a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security following a fatal shooting involving a Border Patrol agent in Minnesota on a Saturday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“It literally encourages more illegal immigration,” Graham told “Hannity.” “It’s a massive invitation to fraud, and it destroys law and order. And what happened in Minnesota is the result of a state ignoring the law that is there to help the people.”

Funding for Department of Homeland Security is set to expire Jan. 30, as Senate Democrats push for ICE reforms and spending cuts.