San Francisco, Santa Clara and 14 other cities have appealed to halt the implementation of executive orders to strip federal taxpayer funds.
A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s push for the federal government to cities that adopted the so-called sanctuary policy for illegal immigration.
“The challenged section violates the separation of constitutional authority principles and expenditure clauses in order to withhold, freeze or put federal funds allocated to the region by Congress…
He banned the administration from implementing cuts in funding for such cities. This is a ruling that will remain ongoing as further suits in question are pending.
Sanctuary cities are local authorities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities in identifying or deporting illegal immigrants.
Trying to refund such cities fits the Trump administration’s bigger goal of stopping illegal immigration and doing what the president said.
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In 2017, during his first term, Trump signed Executive Order 13768. At the time, Orrick was on his side with the plaintiffs and blocked the implementation of the executive order.
Upon reclaiming the White House, Trump signed two new executive orders, 14159 and 14218.
Section 17 of EO 14159, in question in the case, orders the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to “evaluate and carry out legal cases to ensure the so-called “sanctuary” jurisdiction that seeks to prevent the legal exercise of federal law enforcement operations.”
In a rush of legal challenges to Trump administration mandates across the country, Attorney General Pam Bondy said in February that he had “continued with an order defining a state or local jurisdiction that refuses to comply with 8USC §1373.
The directive also ordered relevant agencies within the Department of Justice to review contracts, grants and other financial arrangements with sanctuary cities and non-governmental organizations and, where applicable, cut their funds in line with the law.
Orrick said the move was “probably arbitrary and whimsical, contrary to the lawsuits of the ultra-Vires final institutions under the Constitution, the Constitution and the (Management Procedures Act).”
The administration has not yet responded to the decision.
It restricts the administration’s ability to implement Trump’s borders and immigration policies, urges proposals in the US Congress to weaken the judiciary, and spurs the degree of injunctions against administration’s policies.
