A judge on Friday expanded an order blocking the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from “sanctuary” cities and counties. It now includes 34 places, including Los Angeles, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois and Denver, Colorado.
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In an earlier ruling, Judge William H. Orrick of the Northern District of California granted San Francisco, Santa Clara and fourteen other municipalities with sanctuary policies a preliminary injunction. He called the Trump administration’s actions a “coercive threat” to the cities.
“I determined that the Cities and Counties are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that defendants’ actions with respect to the enjoined executive orders and related agency directives were unconstitutional violations of the separation of powers and spending clause doctrines and violated the Fifth Amendment, Tenth Amendment and Administrative Procedure Act,” Orrick said.
Orrick said the issue is now on appeal.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Straight Arrow News that sanctuary cities interfere with federal immigration enforcement at the expense of American citizens’ safety.
“The government — at all levels — has the duty to protect American citizens from harm,” she said, adding that the White House looks forward to “ultimate vindication on the issue.”
Sanctuary cities, counties and states are ones that have policies in place restricting how much local law enforcement can work with federal immigration authorities. President Donald Trump in April signed an executive order directing federal agencies to put them on a list, citing public safety and national security, but this was later taken down after backlash, including from the National Sheriffs’ Association.
“Trump is intent on ignoring the rule of law and punishing all who would disagree with him,” sanctuary cities and counties said in their initial lawsuit against the administration.
Cuts to federal funding, they said, could negatively affect critical services and public infrastructure.
Since then, the Department of Justice has taken legal action against cities such as Denver, Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago, as well as New York state, Illinois, New Jersey and Colorado. A federal judge in July dismissed the lawsuit against Chicago and Illinois.
A police department in one sanctuary city, Washington, D.C., is allowing its officers to cooperate with federal immigration agencies. NBC Washington, citing an internal memo, reported that the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, Pamela Smith, issued an executive order letting officers share personal or identifying information with immigration agencies about individuals who are not under arrest or in police custody. They can also help transport those detained by federal immigration officers and the authorities themselves.
