Richmond sues over sanctuary city order

Leaders in the city of Richmond — including its mayor and police chief — filed a federal lawsuit against President Trump seeking to block an executive order that would deny sanctuary cities federal funding.

Richmond is the latest Bay Area city to file such a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s action — one of several executive orders that the president signed in January during his first week in office.

Richmond Mayor Tom Butt and Police Chief Allwyn Brown said the order is unconstitutional and would undermine the city’s community policing efforts, particularly regarding interactions with immigrant communities. The city leaders filed the suit in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday.

“All residents, no matter their immigration status, should be able to report crimes and assist in criminal investigations without fear that their immigration status will also be investigated,” Brown said in a statement Wednesday. “Our community is safer when there is that trust. The executive order increases fear in the immigrant community and makes it harder for the police to protect the public.”

The executive order, which Trump signed Jan. 25, drafts changes to national immigration policies, including stripping federal grant money from sanctuary cities. The order also calls for local law enforcement jurisdictions to detain people in the country illegally, and seeks to hire 10,000 more federal immigration officers.

Critics of the order have said it is unconstitutional because it violates 10th Amendment limits on federal interference in powers reserved to states. San Francisco and Santa Clara County have also sued to block the order.

Richmond is one of more than 300 sanctuary cities in the United States. It enacted an ordinance in 1990 that restricts cooperation between its police department and federal immigration officials.

“We are confident that the policies we have put in place to promote a community policing culture comply with all federal laws,” Butt said in a statement. “The statements by the Trump administration suggest that Richmond will be targeted for protecting our residents. The president’s harmful approach is based on fear and we will not allow intimidation to disrupt our commitment to our residents and their safety.”