House GOP Targets Sanctuary Cities with SBA Crackdown
A new bill threatens to relocate or close Small Business Administration offices in immigrant-friendly jurisdictions, hitting local economies where it hurts.
WASHINGTON — On Thursday afternoon, the GOP-led House will vote on a bill with a name that reads like another Bill Melugin fever dream. The “Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025” (H.R. 2931) would force the Small Business Administration (SBA) to shutter or relocate any of its district, local, or regional offices currently operating in “sanctuary jurisdictions” — essentially turning economic development into a deportation strategy.
On the surface, it’s about federal offices. Dig deeper, and it’s about cutting off resources — not from lawbreakers, but from the immigrant-friendly cities and towns that defy ICE detainer requests or limit police cooperation with federal immigration agents. In short: if your city doesn’t help deport people, the federal government might just deport your SBA office.
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A Bureaucratic Sledgehammer
Sponsored by Rep. Brad Finstad (R-MN) and backed by Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY), the bill orders the SBA Administrator to make a public determination of which offices are in sanctuary cities, and then — within 120 days — relocate them to jurisdictions more compliant with federal immigration enforcement.
If the SBA fails to meet this deadline? The office shuts down. The employees get reassigned. The office head can even be fired for not moving fast enough. The bill gives the Administrator sweeping authority to erase any office in a jurisdiction that’s not sufficiently cooperative with Homeland Security — even if that office serves a thriving immigrant community of small business owners.
Sanctuary Cities as Economic Scapegoats
This isn’t the first time the term “sanctuary city” has been weaponized in policy. But this time, it’s being used to choke off federal services to entrepreneurs, workers, and local economies — many of whom are immigrants or depend on immigrant communities to survive.
The bill defines “sanctuary jurisdiction” broadly: any state or local government that limits cooperation with ICE or refuses to share immigration status information. While it makes an exception for jurisdictions protecting victims and witnesses of crimes, the practical effect remains: if your city protects undocumented immigrants, it risks losing its SBA lifeline.
This means places like San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Seattle, Austin, and dozens of other cities could see vital business support — loans, training, disaster recovery funds — ripped away.
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Small Businesses, Big Consequences
The SBA isn’t just a faceless bureaucracy. For many immigrant entrepreneurs, it’s the place where a food truck becomes a restaurant, or where a home-based childcare service becomes a licensed provider. It’s loan guarantees for refugees. It’s recovery support after climate disasters. It’s language-accessible counseling on how to navigate taxes, permits, and federal grants.
Under this bill, those resources are treated as bargaining chips. If your mayor doesn’t prioritize deportations, your business doesn’t get federal help.
A Familiar Pattern: Starve the Cities
H.R. 2931 fits into a broader trend in Republican policymaking under Trump’s second term: cut off funding, services, or infrastructure from “uncooperative” blue cities, particularly those that support immigrants or push back against federal immigration policy. It’s a tactic used on education grants, health programs, and even disaster relief.
Now, it’s hitting small businesses — often the first line of economic survival for immigrant families.
The Politics of Paperwork
There’s a dark genius to this bill. It doesn’t send ICE into neighborhoods. It doesn’t lock anyone up. It simply moves some desks and printers to another ZIP code — and in doing so, disrupts the lives of immigrant communities without the political cost of direct enforcement.
It forces federal employees into an ideological compliance test. It forces cities to choose between supporting their immigrant populations or keeping their federal offices. It weaponizes the mundane.
What’s Next
The bill is going to be voted on today by the House, where it’s most likely pass through. It’ll face a more uncertain fate in the GOP-controlled Senate. But as a signal, it’s loud and clear: in the new immigration politics of 2025, even small business aid is up for grabs. The message to cities that dare to resist deportation orders? We’ll take your jobs next.
