US Judge Blocks Trump's Order To Cut Off Funding To Sanctuary Cities
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) — 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.
Just last week the City of Philadelphia received a letter from the U.S. Justice Department ordering them to verify that they are in compliance with a federal immigration law.
If the city does not comply it could lose a $1.7 million annual grant for local law enforcement efforts.
"We are still reviewing the court's lengthy order, internally and with our outside counsel," said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. "Although we are gratified with the federal courts ruling, we will need to continue to work in order to prevent our local law enforcement officers from being forced to adopt policies that would make our city less safe and worsen community relations."
Congressman Bob Brady says he's pleased by the judge's order on Tuesday.
"I'm pleased that U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued a preliminary injunction to block Donald Trump's threat to strip funding from so called "sanctuary cities" like Philadelphia," said Brady. "Our police deserve all the training and equipment funding they can get in order to protect our citizens. That threat against our police should never have been made."
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)