Judge permanently blocks Trump's sanctuary cities order, calling it 'unconstitutional on its face'

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday November 21, 2017 · 7:40 AM PST

2017/11/21 · 07:40

US President Donald Trump, flanked by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (L) and Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R), speaks during a meeting about opioid and drug abuse in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on March 29, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Calling it “unconstitutional on its face,” a federal judge has permanently blocked Donald Trump’s January executive order targeting so-called “sanctuary cities,” which sought to starve localities of federal funding unless they cooperated with his mass deportation force, often in unconstitutional ways:

“The counties have demonstrated that the executive order has caused and will cause them constitutional injuries by violating the separation of powers doctrine and depriving them of their Tenth and Fifth Amendment rights,” [U.S. District Judge William] Orrick wrote.

The city and county of San Francisco and the county of Santa Clara had argued they could lose billions of dollars in federal funds each year. Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice said the order would apply to only a few grants and would involve far less money, an argument rejected by Orrick, who said it was written broadly in an attempt “to reach all federal grants.”

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who filed two lawsuits against the Trump administration, called the decision “a victory for the American people” and said the case was “a check on the president’s abuse of power.”

“This executive order was unconstitutional before the ink on it was even dry,” Herrera said. “This president and his administration have been trying to twist facts, stoke fears and demonize immigrants to score cheap political points. The American people are too smart for that.”

According to Huffington Post, “Trump’s own words were used against him in Orrick’s ruling, including an instance where the president said he would use the executive order as ‘a weapon’ against jurisdictions that disagreed with his policies.”

Judge permanently blocks Trump's sanctuary cities order, calling it 'unconstitutional on its face'

Comments are closed on this story.