A U.S. federal judge on Friday blocked President Trump’s administration from withholding federal funding from more than 30 sanctuary jurisdictions, including Los Angeles, Baltimore, Boston, and Chicago, that have refused to fully cooperate with the administration’s immigration policies.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick expanded an injunction he initially issued in April, which covered 16 cities and counties, including San Francisco, to now include a new group of local governments seeking protection under his court order.
The lawsuit followed Trump’s executive orders in January and February, which the cities and counties argued unlawfully threatened to cut off federal funding unless local authorities assisted with federal immigration enforcement, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These orders specifically targeted sanctuary jurisdictions, which have policies limiting local law enforcement involvement in civil immigration arrests.
Orrick wrote that the administration’s actions “threaten to withhold all federal funding from the plaintiffs as sanctuary jurisdictions if they do not adapt their policies and practices to conform with the Trump administration’s preferences.”
“That coercive threat (and any actions agencies take to realize that threat, or additional Executive Orders the President issues to the same end) is unconstitutional, so I enjoined its effect,” Orrick added. “I do so again today for the protection of the new parties in this case.”
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Trump administration is already appealing Orrick’s earlier ruling.
Among the cities covered by the updated order is Los Angeles. Earlier this year, Trump deployed the National Guard to patrol Los Angeles after protests against intensified federal immigration raids, an action now facing a separate lawsuit filed by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
