Lawyer: Sanctuary order involves little money

Hearing held on executive order involving funding.

SAN FRANCISCO — President Donald Trump’s executive order withholding funding from communities that limit cooperation with immigration authorities applies to a small pot of grant money, not the billions of dollars that San Francisco and a California county say is at stake for them, a lawyer with the Department of Justice said Friday.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler made the comments during a court hearing on lawsuits filed by the city of San Francisco and the Silicon Valley county of Santa Clara against Trump’s order targeting so-called sanctuary cities.

Readler said the city and county were interpreting the order too broadly.

The funding cutoff applies to Department of Jutice and Department of Homeland Security grants contingent on compliance with a federal law that prohibits local governments from refusing to provide people’s immigration status to federal authorities, 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.

“There is no mystery,” he said.

The plaintiffs have argued that more than $1 billion was at stake for each of them, citing all federal funds they receive for a variety of programs and services.

Readler’s comments about the money appeared to catch U.S. District Judge William Orrick by surprise. Orrick then questioned the point of the president’s executive order.

Readler responded that the administration was using a “bully pulpit” to highlight an issue it cares deeply about.

John Keker, an attorney for Santa Clara County, rejected Readler’s interpretation and said the order referred to all federal funds received by local governments that don’t detain immigrants for possible deportation when they are due for release from jail.

“They’ve come up with a further interpretation,” Keker said. “It won’t wash.”

San Francisco and Santa Clara County have asked for a court order blocking the Trump administration from cutting off funds to any sanctuary cities. Orrick did not immediately issue a ruling after Friday’s hearing.

AP Erica Leyva of the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network of San Jose, Calif., protests outside a courthouse where a judge heard arguments in a suit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order.