NEWS
Trump’s Order Defunding Sanctuary Cities Blocked By Federal Judge
A San Francisco judge has blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order withholding funds from so-called sanctuary cities that fail to comply with federal immigration demands by shielding undocumented immigrants, reports The Hill.
San Francisco and its Silicon Valley neighbor, Santa Clara County, were granted preliminary injunctions blocking Trump’s Jan. 25 order which declared that sanctuary jurisdictions cause “immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our republic.”
According to a Washington Post reporter Matt Zapotosky, the judge’s order still allows the Justice Department to withhold grants from places that don’t comply with the law, but it cannot enforce the order “in a way that violates the Constitution.”
BREAKING: Judge blocks Trump's sanctuary cities executive order (in about the strangest way possible…) pic.twitter.com/gn8C4y5hKd
— Matt Zapotosky (@mattzap) April 25, 2017
The injunction says it “does nothing more than implement the effect of the Government’s flawed interpretation of the Order. It does not affect the ability of the Attorney General or the Secretary to enforce existing conditions of federal grants … nor does it impact the Secretary’s ability to develop regulations or other guidance defining what a sanctuary jurisdiction is or designating a jurisdiction as such.”
Bloomberg adds:
Forcing sanctuary cities to cooperate with deporting undocumented immigrants was a key component of the president’s campaign vow to rid the U.S. of “bad hombres” entering from Mexico. Tuesday’s ruling may cause further frustration for an administration mired in litigation since its ninth day.
