Feds sue California over ‘sanctuary’ laws

Justice Department claims state intentionally obstructs enforcement

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department plans to escalate its war on “sanctuary” jurisdictions by alleging in a lawsuit that the state of California has violated the Constitution with a collection of laws that are friendly to undocumented immigrants, senior officials said Tuesday.

In a suit that was expected to be filed in federal district court in Sacramento, Calif., the Justice Department will allege that three recently enacted California laws intentionally obstruct enforcement of federal immigration law and harm public safety.

The Justice Department will ask a federal judge to block the California laws, which restrict how state businesses and law enforcement agencies can cooperate with immigration authorities. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is to address the lawsuit in a speech Wednesday at the California Peace Officers Association’s 26th Annual Law Enforcement Day, saying, in part: “We are fighting to make your jobs safer and to help you reduce crime in America. And I believe we are going to win,” according to an excerpt of his prepared remarks.

A representative for California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, could not immediately be reached for comment. Asked during an interview last week with The Washington Post about some of Sessions’ attempts to keep federal grant money from sanctuary jurisdictions, Becerra said the 10th Amendment “doesn’t give the federal government the right to determine or dictate how a state goes about doing public safety.”

“I feel pretty confident that he would have a difficult time proving that there’s a rational basis for the federal government commandeering state funds simply to get the state to accommodate the federal government’s desires on immigration enforcement,” Becerra said. Although the court is being asked to consider only California, which this year became a “sanctuary state” to some fanfare, the court’s decision could have far-reaching consequences for other jurisdictions with similar policies. There is no formal definition of a “sanctuary” jurisdiction, but the Justice Department has put dozens of other locales in its crosshairs.