Judge puts temporary ban on feds’ $lash bid
A federal judge on Tuesday dealt another blow to President Trump’s national-security agenda — ruling that the administration cannot force “sanctuary cities” like New York to cooperate with immigration officers by withholding funds.
California US District Judge William Orrick issued the temporary ruling, saying Trump had no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending.
His ruling came in a lawsuit filed by San Francisco and Santa Clara County against the president’s executive order.
The plaintiffs argued during an April 14 hearing that the order threatened billions of dollars in federal funding, making it difficult to plan their budgets.
Federal law does not define “sanctuary cities,” and the Trump administration had given differing descriptions of the policies it was looking to enforce.
More than 300 cities and counties nationwide have placed limits on how far their law-enforcement agencies can go in cooperating with federal immigration officials looking to detain and deport immigrants for crimes or illegal entry into the United States.
“The counties have demonstrated that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their . . . challenge to the executive order, that they will suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction, and that the balance of harms and public interest weigh in their favor,” Orrick wrote.
The decision will stay in place while the lawsuit works its way through the courts.
“It’s not like it’s just some small amount of money,” John Keker, an attorney for Santa Clara County, told Orrick, an Obama appointee, at the April 14 hearing.
The White House called the decision “egregious overreach” in a statement released Tuesday night, adding that the cities were being “dangerous and unlawful” by not following their orders.
“Ultimately, this is a fight between sovereignty and open borders, between the rule of law and lawlessness, and between hardworking Americans and those who would undermine their safety and freedom,” the statement read.
The White House also complained that the ruling came from a judge in San Francisco, “the same sanctuary city that released the five-time deported illegal immigrant who gunned down innocent Kate Steinle in her father’s arms.”
Acting US Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler said the county and San Francisco were interpreting the executive order too broadly.
The funding cutoff applies to three Justice and Homeland Security department grants that require complying with a federal law compelling local governments not to block local officials from providing detainees’ immigration status, he said.
The order would affect less than $1 million in funding for Santa Clara County and possibly no money for San Francisco, Readler said.
Trump was using the “bully pulpit,” the president’s ability to draw attention to an issue, to “encourage communities and states to comply with the law,” he added.
In his ruling, Orrick sided with San Francisco and Santa Clara, saying the order, “by its plain language, attempts to reach all federal grants, not merely the three mentioned at the hearing.”
“The rest of the order is broader still, addressing all federal funding,” Orrick said. “And if there was doubt about the scope of the order, the president and attorney general have erased it with their public comments.”
Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) hailed the ruling.
“New York has made clear that we will not be an accomplice to implementing anti-immigrant policies that tear apart families and sow fear in our communities,” she said.