Court: ‘Sanctuary’ states can lose funds
The Trump administration can withhold millions of dollars in law enforcement grants from so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities, a federal appeals court said in a ruling issued Wednesday.
The decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York conflicted with three other appeals courts, which had previously ordered the administration to release grant money to some jurisdictions.
“This decision is a total break on what has been a unanimous decision from courts and judges across the country that this is illegal,” said Cody Wofsy, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project, which filed a brief in the case.
A handful of states — New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Virginia and Rhode Island — sued the U.S. government after the Department of Justice announced in 2017 that it would withhold grant money from localities that denied federal immigration authorities access to jails, among other conditions.
The U.S. attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions, said that such “sanctuary” policies undermined public safety.
Federal appeals courts in Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco had previously ruled against the federal government in separate cases about the issue.
But the 2nd Circuit said its reading of the law showed that the federal government has the authority to impose conditions on states and localities receiving federal grant money. The appellate judges noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has observed that the federal government has power over states where immigration policy is concerned.
“Today’s decision rightfully recognizes the lawful authority of the attorney general to ensure that Department of Justice grant recipients are not at the same time thwarting federal law enforcement priorities,” said Alexei Woltornist, a spokesman for the Justice Department.
It was unclear if the states planned to appeal. The Supreme Court often hears cases to resolve conflicts among federal appeals courts.
The federal money in question is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. Created in 2006 and named after a young New York police officer fatally shot while guarding the home of a cooperating witness, the grant is used by Congress to dispense more than $250 million every year to state and local authorities for criminal justice efforts.
New York City, for instance, receives about $4 million a year in JAG funding to pay salaries for emergency responders and fund drug prosecutions, among other programs.
In its unanimous decision Wednesday, a three-judge appellate panel reversed a lower-court ruling in New York. Judge Edgardo Ramos of U.S. District Court in Manhattan had ruled in 2018 that the Trump administration could not compel states and cities to cooperate with federal immigration authorities as a condition for receiving the grant money.
That ruling was considered a victory for the city and the states that had sued the federal government.
The Trump administration has intensified its efforts to crack down on places with sanctuary policies, especially New York, where a law that allows immigrants who lack legal status to obtain driver’s licenses and blocks federal authorities from gaining access to a motor vehicles database has led to a bitter standoff between federal and state officials.