Judge blocks Trump order to cut funding from sanctuary cities like Seattle
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge in San Francisco has blocked a Trump administration order to withhold funding from communities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued the temporary ruling Tuesday in a lawsuit over the executive order targeting so-called sanctuary cities. The decision will stay in place while the lawsuit moves through court.
The Republican president's administration and two California governments that sued over the order disagreed about its scope.
San Francisco and Santa Clara County argued that it threatened billions of dollars in federal funding.
But an attorney for the Justice Department, Chad Readler, said at a recent court hearing that it applied to a limited set of grants.
Readler said less than $1 million was at stake nationally and possibly no San Francisco funding.
Mayor Ed Murray issued the following statement after U.S. District Judge William Orrick blocked a Trump administration order to withhold federal funding from “sanctuary cities”:
“This court ruling preventing President Trump from punishing ‘sanctuary cities’ is yet another rebuke of his misguided agenda,” said Mayor Murray. “Once again, a federal judge has blocked President Trump’s dangerous overreach. While we review this ruling’s impact on our City’s lawsuit against the president’s order, we will continue to embrace all our residents because we know Trump’s attacks on ‘sanctuary cities’ are attacks on Constitutional Cities.”