11 states backing Trump in sanctuary-cities case

NEW YORK — A coalition of 11 mostly Republican-led states urged a federal appeals court to enforce President Donald Trump’s executive order punishing so-called sanctuary cities, which refuse to share information about illegal aliens with federal authorities.

The group filed a joint brief last week urging the appeals court in San Francisco to reinstate a January directive in which Trump threatened broad cuts in funding for jurisdictions that don’t assist efforts to deport illegal aliens.

The states, led by Republican Attorneys General Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia and Jeff Landry of Louisiana, argued that sanctuary cities undermine Trump’s immigration-enforcement authority and make the country less safe.

Trump has warned that violent Hispanic gangs flourish in sanctuary cities, while many Democratic-led states and cities contend that cooperation with federal officials drains local resources and risks infringing citizens’ rights. The other states backing Trump in the San Francisco case are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

“Sanctuary cities are a matter of public safety,” Morrisey said in a statement Wednesday. “Law enforcement officials can better protect citizens if they are capable of complying with federal immigration laws rather than having their authority limited by the establishment of sanctuary cities.”