Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Order to Strip Funds From ‘Sanctuary Cities’

  A sign at a rally in Somerville, Mass., reads: “Somerville is my sanctuary city.” (Chris Devers / CC 2.0)

A U.S. District judge in California blocked a presidential order that would keep “sanctuary cities” from receiving federal money if the cities refused to comply with immigration officials. The Los Angeles Times reports:

U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick III, an Obama appointee based in San Francisco, said Trump’s Jan. 25 order, directed at so-called sanctuary cities and counties, unconstitutionally infringed on the rights of local governments.

The case was the first legal test of Trump’s order, which has left cities and counties across the nation fearful of losing massive amounts of federal funds.

The ruling stemmed from lawsuits by San Francisco and Santa Clara County challenging the order. The suits argued the directive violated the 10th Amendment, which protects states from federal government interference.

The Justice Department recently gave sanctuary cities an ultimatum: Disclose information about immigrants, or lose federal funding for law enforcement. The Justice Department set a June 30 deadline in its letter to sanctuary cities.

Now that a federal judge has blocked Trump’s initial order, it’s unclear how the showdown between local governments and the federal government will proceed.

READ: Why Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III Is Unfit to Be Attorney General

“The injunction will stay in place while the lawsuits work their way through court,” The Seattle Times writes. “The judge said that President Donald Trump cannot set new conditions for the federal grants at stake. And even if he could, the conditions would have to be clearly related to the funds at issue and not coercive, Orrick said.”

—Posted by Emma Niles