US District Judge District Judge William Orrick [5] of the Northern District of California on April 25 issued a [6]temporary injunction (PDF [6]) against Executive Order 13768, "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States" (PDF [7]), which would have allowed the federal government to withhold funds from municipalities that have been designated as "sanctuary cities." Orrick rejected the government's argument that the order was within the president's scope, saying, "The President has called it 'a weapon' to use against jurisdictions that disagree with his preferred policies of immigration enforcement... The Constitution vests the spending powers in Congress, not the President, so the Order cannot constitutionally place new conditions on federal funds."
Orrick found that the localities had a likelihood of success in the case against section 9(a) of the order and that they would be irreparably harmed without an injunction in place. The court also noted that the injunction did not "impact the Government's ability to use lawful means to enforce existing conditions of federal grants... nor does it restrict the [Homeland] Secretary from developing regulations or preparing guidance on designating a jurisdiction as a 'sanctuary jurisdiction.'" Earlier this month, Orrick heard arguments [8] in the challenge, which was brought by the counties of San Francisco and Santa Clara.
From Jurist [9], April 26. Used with permission.
Note: The ruling to strike down Trump's order to withhold funds from sanctuary cities [10] comes a month after a federal judge similarly blocked Trump [11]'s travel ban order [12]—which had itself been issued in response to the courts blocking [13] an earlier and more sweeping such order.
