Washington, D.C. — Center for American Progress experts are available to comment today following news that U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued a temporary order blocking President Trump’s executive order to withhold funding from so-called sanctuary communities. Judge Orrick ruled that the president has no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending, saying in his ruling that “by its plain language, [the order] attempts to reach all federal grants, not merely the three mentioned at the hearing.”
This decision comes on the heels of Attorney General Jeff Sessions admitting that the Department of Justice, or DOJ, will not penalize jurisdictions that do not honor detainer requests, mere days after announcing that the DOJ sent letters to nine jurisdictions escalating warnings that federal law enforcement grants could be withheld if areas don’t prove by the end of June that they are abiding by Section 1373 of federal law.
“Section 1373 is about information sharing, not about whether a jurisdiction honors an unconstitutional detainer request,” said Tom Jawetz, Vice President of Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress. “Today’s opinion is another reminder that for all his bluster, President Trump’s threats against so-called sanctuary cities are hollow at best. Judge Orrick’s opinion makes it clear that the January 25th executive order, which threatened all federal funding in so-called sanctuary cities, is unconstitutional for multiple reasons.”
“Center for American Progress research has previously found that sanctuary counties are safer and economically stronger than their nonsanctuary counterparts, and today’s ruling should serve as additional evidence that President Trump must drop his attacks on these jurisdictions,” Jawetz added.
The following CAP experts are available for comment:
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For more information or to speak to an expert on this topic, please contact Tanya Arditi at [email protected] or 202.741.6258.