March 28, 2024

BREAKING: Federal Judge Blocks Sanctuary Cities Order.

San Francisco-based federal judge blocked President Trump’s executive order that barred federal funding for cities that declared themselves sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants. Judge William Orrick, an Obama-appointee representing the Northern District of California, issued a temporary injunction after Santa Clara and San Francisco counties argued that the order violates the Constitution of the United States.

The order in question was signed by the President on January 25 and it stated the following purpose:

Interior enforcement of our Nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States.  Many aliens who illegally enter the United States and those who overstay or otherwise violate the terms of their visas present a significant threat to national security and public safety.  This is particularly so for aliens who engage in criminal conduct in the United States.

Sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States willfully violate Federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States.  These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic.

Tens of thousands of removable aliens have been released into communities across the country, solely because their home countries refuse to accept their repatriation.  Many of these aliens are criminals who have served time in our Federal, State, and local jails.  The presence of such individuals in the United States, and the practices of foreign nations that refuse the repatriation of their nationals, are contrary to the national interest.

Although Federal immigration law provides a framework for Federal-State partnerships in enforcing our immigration laws to ensure the removal of aliens who have no right to be in the United States, the Federal Government has failed to discharge this basic sovereign responsibility.  We cannot faithfully execute the immigration laws of the United States if we exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement.  The purpose of this order is to direct executive departments and agencies (agencies) to employ all lawful means to enforce the immigration laws of the United States.

Both San Francisco and Santa Clara counties took issue with Section 9(a) of the order, which gives Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly discretion in stripping federal funds from sanctuary cities:

In furtherance of this policy, the Attorney General and the Secretary, in their discretion and to the extent consistent with law, shall ensure that jurisdictions that willfully refuse to comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373 (sanctuary jurisdictions) are not eligible to receive Federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes by the Attorney General or the Secretary.  The Secretary has the authority to designate, in his discretion and to the extent consistent with law, a jurisdiction as a sanctuary jurisdiction.  The Attorney General shall take appropriate enforcement action against any entity that violates 8 U.S.C. 1373, or which has in effect a statute, policy, or practice that prevents or hinders the enforcement of Federal law.

According to Bloomberg, the federal government will seek to overturn the ruling in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Source: The Daily Wire

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