New York Mayor Bill de Blasio abruptly canceled his participation in a White House meeting on infrastructure with President Donald Trump and dozens of other city leaders, protesting Justice Department immigration policies he described as racist.
“I will NOT be attending today’s meeting at the White House after @realDonaldTrump’s Department of Justice decided to renew their racist assault on our immigrant communities. It doesn’t make us safer and it violates America’s core values,” de Blasio wrote on Twitter.
The event on Wednesday would have been the first meeting between the Democratic mayor and Trump since the Republican president’s inauguration a year ago. The two spoke face-to-face at Trump Tower after the November 2016 election. Each has publicly criticized each other, clashing on law enforcement and immigration policies in particular.
De Blasio, who last month traveled to Iowa saying he wanted to influence the national debate on policy, was among more than 100 mayors slated to attend the meeting, which did not include Mayors Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles and Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel.
“We are disappointed that a number of mayors have chosen to make a political stunt instead of participating in an important discussion with the President and his administration,” said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters. “President Trump is committed to tackling the challenges facing this country and looks forward to visiting with a large bi-partisan group of mayors that represent both rural and urban municipalities.”
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