For the third time in less than 100 days, a court has prevented Trump and his administration from violating the U.S. Constitution.
This past week, Judge Orrick, a federal district judge in San Francisco, placed a temporary hold on Trump’s executive order that threatened to defund sanctuary cities. Sanctuary cities seek to reduce cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement to enhance public safety and foster positive relationships with immigrant communities.
The Trump administration repeatedly threatened to withhold all federal funds from cities that refuse to help federal immigration officials facilitate the deportation of immigrants, including law-abiding individuals that have lived in this country for decades and have families and jobs. In response, San Francisco and Santa Clara sued the federal government claiming that a president cannot withhold all federal funding from a city that refuses to abide by federal immigration law. Judge Orrick agreed with San Francisco, temporarily halting the order while the case is fully litigated in court. The judge stated that the constitution permits only congress to limit federal funding to the degree outlined in the executive order.
Lawyers for Trump’s administration argued in court that the executive order would not be used to wholly defund sanctuary cities. However, as was the case with Trump’s Muslim Ban 2.0, the judge pointed to several comments made by Trump and his administration that completely contradicted those arguments. Judge Orrick stated “If there was doubt about the scope of the order, the president and attorney general have erased it with their public comments.”
CAIR-Philadelphia commends Judge Orrick for providing the necessary checks and balances on an administration that continues its efforts to trample upon the Constitution of the United States of America.
