[#TrumpFail ...]
California has launched a war on President Trump's attempt to clamp down on “sanctuary cities.” And it just got a major weapon to fight with: On Tuesday, a federal judge in San Francisco agreed with two California municipalities that Trump's attempt to cut them off from federal funding for not complying with deportation requests is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick agreed with the counties of San Francisco and Santa Clara, both of which sued the Trump administration for trying to prevent them from getting more than $1 billion in federal grants, that those grants can't legally be withheld.
The court action is likely to continue. But this is an unqualified early victory for California — and sanctuary cities across the nation that have said they'll refuse to comply with some of the Trump administration's deportation requests. This includes some of the nation's largest cities, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
The president
doesn't have much leverage to force these cities and states to hand over its illegal immigrants. Attempting to withhold money and hoping the cities caved was pretty much it. And a federal court just ruled that method unconstitutional.
...
The court ruling couldn't come at a better time for California, which is in the middle of flipping a giant middle finger to Trump.
California state lawmakers are steaming through a bill that would make the state the first sanctuary state for illegal immigrants. It's quite possibly the highest-profile act of defiance to Trump's nascent presidency, and Trump
may not be able to stop them.
The legislation would prevent local and state law enforcement agencies from helping the federal government deport undocumented immigrants. The state Senate passed it earlier this month, and the state Assembly is expected to pass it next month, though Gov. Jerry Brown (D) hasn't said whether he'll sign it.