Immigration clash: US judge expands bar on Trump’s funding cuts for sanctuary cities

A US federal judge on Friday widened an earlier order that stopped the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from cities and counties with sanctuary policies. The ruling now covers more than 30 additional jurisdictions, including Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Baltimore, Chicago and Columbus, Ohio.

The case concerns sanctuary cities, where local laws restrict police from working directly with federal immigration authorities. Judge William H. Orrick of the US District Court for the Northern District of California had first issued an order in April covering 16 cities and counties, many in California but also larger cities such as Seattle, Minneapolis and Portland.

On Friday, Orrick said the administration had not opposed the expansion request from local governments. He noted that while the government is appealing his original decision, it had only challenged the legal reasoning, not the inclusion of more plaintiffs.


The order protects hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that local governments use for projects and essential services. “The new plaintiffs have each alleged similar reliance on federal funding as the cities and counties and filed declarations showing similar harms to community health, welfare and social services and to their budgetary processes that depend on the regularly authorized grants of federal funding for a variety of critical needs,” Orrick wrote.

The decision comes as the Trump administration increases immigration enforcement. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has received additional resources through a tax and spending bill passed in July. Federal agencies have also been directed to share sensitive data with ICE, a move that has led to multiple lawsuits citing violations of privacy laws.

The case before Orrick is among the most significant legal challenges this year to the administration’s immigration policy. It expands protections to two dozen more cities and 10 counties across 13 states, including 19 additional jurisdictions in California.

with inputs from NYT