Washington (CNN) Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan on Sunday said that migrants detained along the southern US border will not be sent to sanctuary cities as President Donald Trump and some members of his administration have previously pushed for.

Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," McAleenan was asked to respond to the President having said on several occasions that he supported the idea, including last month during a rally in Wisconsin in which he claimed the process was already underway.

"As we've already talked about, we are balancing operationally the processing of people at the border. We have sent flights to California -- California is a sanctuary state by law, so that's technically correct," McAleenan told host Margaret Brennan.

Customs and Border Protection has started flying some apprehended migrants to San Diego and another location in Texas for processing because the facilities along the border are at capacity. But pushed about whether DHS will send them specifically to sanctuary cities, McAleenan first dodged the question, saying, "Our transportation is based on operational necessity, capacity to process safely -- that's what we're doing."

Asked in a follow-up by Brennan whether the answer to the question was "no," McAleenan answered, "Correct."

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