A federal judge on Friday expanded his ruling blocking the Trump administration from cancelling government funding to dozens of accused sanctuary jurisdictions.
San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge William Orrick in April ruled in favor of 16 counties and cities that sued the Trump administration’s efforts to rescind billions in funding due to criticism that their policies on illegal immigrants were out of compliance with federal immigration law. His ruling applied only to those jurisdictions, as opposed to other court injunctions that have held nationwide implications.
This week, the California judge ruled again on the matter in response to further lawsuits brought by dozens more jurisdictions that joined the lawsuit. Orrick’s preliminary injunction further blocks the Trump administration from ending funding to 34 additional cities and counties, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Boston, and Baltimore.
The legal setback comes as President Donald Trump has made targeting illegal immigrants, and the jurisdictions accused of harboring them, one of the cornerstone priorities of his second term. Attorney General Pam Bondi at the Justice Department has sued multiple cities over the issue, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also spearheaded efforts to target illegal immigrants.
On Jan. 20, the president issued an executive order that directed Bondi and Noem to ensure “sanctuary jurisdictions “do not receive access to federal funds.”
Days after Orrick first ruled the directive was “likely unconstitutional,” blocking the administration from enforcing it against 16 cities and counties that sued, Trump signed another executive order on the matter. The April 28 directive ordered his administration, led by Bondi and Noem, to draw up a list of sanctuary cities that are not complying with federal immigration laws.
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Bondi and Noem released a list of over 500 such “sanctuary jurisdictions” in late May that was later taken offline. The list was originally published on the DHS website, with officials sending notices to each city stating that the government considers it noncompliant with federal immigration law and may be violating federal criminal statutes.
Months later, Bondi in August issued a significantly smaller list highlighting top sanctuary jurisdictions on the Trump administration’s radar, including 13 states, four counties, and 18 cities, and threatening further lawsuits from places that refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Later that month, she reiterated a sharp admonition to governing officials, stating they could soon lose federal funding if they continued to block cooperation with ICE.