Coachella mayor reacts to D.O.J. warning to sanctuary city mayors

Mayors from cities all across the nation are bracing for a sanctuary city showdown with the Trump Administration, including Steven Hernandez, the mayor of Coachella.

This week, the Department of Justice threatened to subpoena records in nearly two dozen states and cities, if they don’t comply with the demands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Watch: Coachella voted official sanctuary city

The D.O.J. is also considering criminal charges for state and local officials if they implement or enforce so-called sanctuary policies. Hernandez says he will still defend immigrants in his city.

“That is my job as mayor to defend our policies, to defend our immigrants. I stand by our immigrant community. I stand by our position we’ve taken as a council and a community. I stand by what we as a community has decided is the best interest of all of us and if I need to be prosecuted or go to jail, I stand by that too,” Hernandez said. “The administration may try to bully and do what they do, but that’s why we have the courts.”

Immigration policy is expected to be a main topic of President Trump’s first State of the Union address next Tuesday.

Thursday, Trump appeared to agree to create a path to citizenship for so-called “Dreamers” in exchange for $25 billion for border security and put an end to both extended family-based migration and the visa lottery system.