The successful campaign of President-elect Donald Trump will deliver one certainty — any municipality claiming sanctuary city status must erase that designation and support deportation of undocumented residents, illegals, etc. or face withdrawal of federal funding. For a city like cash-strapped Trenton with a poverty rate near 28-percent and a life-or-death dependence on federal dollars to support various agendas, compliance offers a better option than prayers voiced to St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes. Remember the Mitt Romney presidential campaign plan that called for making things so rough on undocumented residents that they self-deported, well, that registers as Trump-Lite if the former president enacts a promise to exile all documented people. Okay, Trump never built the Great Wall to fend off the southern border; and, Mexico would have never paid a plugged nickel for barrier. His latest rant to round up immigrants, even using local law enforcement in captures, resonated with voters. During a January broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora offered these comments about heading a sanctuary city. Host Neil Cavuto asked, “I did want to get your thought on New Jersey being a sanctuary state, places like New York City being sanctuary cities. Do you regret that? Do you regret New Jersey having that? Because it isn’t up to the delivering the goods on that.” The Cavuto line of questioning occurred after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began “Operation Lone Star”, an initiative that transported undocumented people living in his state to northern cities that offered sanctuary for “illegal” trespassers. Many buses of displaced travelers landed in Trenton. Most moved on to New York City while others stayed in a capital city that harbors an alleged 10,000 or more undocumented residents. Gusciora underscored the issues that connect to offering shelter, food, even healthcare to thousands of unexpected arrivals. “We just don’t have the resources to house them, and I think, as Christians, you want to do the right thing and provide for people. So, I think that Congress either needs to give us the resources or resolve the issue,” Gusciora told Cavuto. Gov. Murphy once embraced large-umbrella ideas about inclusion of immigrants saying in September 2017, “The America I know is the poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty, written by Emma Lazarus in the 1880s. We open up for all to come here.” However, Murphy said, No Way, José, when President Joe Biden’s administration suggested New York City could alleviate a growing immigration problem by sending them to stay in the federally-owned Atlantic City Airport. In September, 2023, News 12’s Eric Landskroner pressed Murphy about the Biden proposal. Murphy said he could not “see any scenario” that provided shelter for thousands in the financially strapped gambling city. “We are already seeing folks in New Jersey that have probably swelled into Jersey from New York City or from other locations. But you need scale, enormous amount of federal support, resources that go beyond anything we can afford. Putting all else aside, I just don’t see it, and I would suspect that that would continue to be the case,” Murphy reasoned. In Trenton, an address for many non-profits, COVID-19, plus an influx of people who flooded the city as word spread of its unofficial sanctuary city stays, organizations have been overwhelmed by persons in need of help. Joyce Campbell, Chief executive officer, of Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, considered the potential plight of TASK clients who may be impacted by the Trump victory and his promise to remove illegals. “Many Spanish-speaking people have come to rely on us, so, an immediate thought was whether they would maintain a comfort level to visit (TASK), never mind the funding. For us, it’s always been food first and no questions asked. We’re always going to feed people,” explained Campbell. She said that TASK fortunately receives significant private support and minimal federal dollars. “If federal funding becomes part of this issue, it’s going to impact many food pantries and a lot of people. And that could have a ripple effect into other organizations.” L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at [email protected].