The court’s latest order underscores a growing judicial pushback against efforts by the Trump administration to penalize sanctuary communities….reports Asian Lite News
A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that the Trump administration cannot strip funding from dozens of American cities and counties because of their so-called “sanctuary” policies, delivering a significant setback to one of the former president’s most contentious immigration initiatives.
Late on Friday, US District Judge William Orrick extended an earlier injunction that prevented the administration from cutting off or conditioning federal funds to jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. His decision now protects major cities including Boston, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles, along with more than 30 other counties across the country. The ruling builds upon an initial injunction that had already safeguarded places such as San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.
According to a report from Arab News, the court’s latest order underscores a growing judicial pushback against efforts by the Trump administration to penalize sanctuary communities. These jurisdictions, which have adopted policies to restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, have long been in the crosshairs of Washington. The administration argued that withholding funds was necessary to pressure local governments into compliance. However, Judge Orrick said the government had failed to provide any legal basis for such measures, describing them instead as unconstitutional coercion.
In his ruling, Orrick emphasised that the Justice Department had made little effort to defend its stance beyond asserting that his earlier injunction was incorrect. The administration has already filed an appeal against that order. He further prohibited officials from attaching immigration-related conditions to two specific grant programmes, a move that could have impacted billions of dollars in federal aid.
The Trump administration had repeatedly sought to escalate pressure on sanctuary jurisdictions as part of a wider immigration crackdown, promising to remove millions of undocumented immigrants. Executive orders signed by Trump directed the attorney general and the secretary of homeland security to withhold federal money from cities deemed uncooperative. Another directive called on federal agencies to ensure no funding inadvertently supported policies that, in the administration’s view, shielded undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Sanctuary cities and counties argued in court that the stakes were extraordinarily high, with billions in federal funding potentially at risk. Orrick, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, sided with them, labelling the administration’s orders and subsequent actions as unconstitutional “coercive threats.”
In May of that year, the Department of Homeland Security had released a list of more than 500 alleged sanctuary jurisdictions, vowing to notify each one formally of its noncompliance. The list, however, was later taken down following criticism that it included localities which had, in fact, supported aspects of the administration’s immigration policy.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has filed lawsuits against several major cities, including New York and Los Angeles, in a continued effort to challenge sanctuary policies. While there is no universally accepted definition of a sanctuary city, the term generally refers to localities that limit cooperation with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE is responsible for enforcing federal immigration law but depends heavily on state and local authorities to identify and detain individuals targeted for deportation.
