Ruling: Trump holding funds from sanctuary cities Seattle, Portland unconstitutional
A U.S. District Court judge ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at withholding federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities like Seattle and Portland was unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones's ruling was in line with an August ruling in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found the same section of Trump's January 2017 order unconstitutional in a San Francisco case.
"Take a moment to celebrate a win against a president doing all he can to marginalize people and foster a climate of fear," said Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes in a news release. "The 'separation of powers' still exists in this country, and I'm thankful to our judiciary for recognizing that."
Trump's order, in part, sought to have the U.S. Department of Justice withhold public safety grant funding from cities that operated as so-called sanctuary jurisdictions. The 'sanctuary' status varies depending on the locale, but generally means public officials have declared that they won't go out of their way to pursue people for immigration-related crimes.
Seattle and King County officials, as well as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, have pledged that the region should be welcoming for all people, regardless of immigration status. Seattle and King County law enforcement have been directed to not ask for immigration status unless required to do so under a federal warrant, and other local agencies are directed to do the same. The policy, meant to make sure people feel safe contacting law enforcement and seeking medical help regardless of their immigration status, is careful not to direct law enforcement to refuse cooperation with immigration authorities, but it also directs them to not go out of their way to do so.
Trump's order told the DOJ to withhold funding from cities that violated federal statute 8 U.S.C 1373, but municipalities argued both that they weren't in violation of the code, and that the federal government couldn't add new conditions to grants already appropriated by Congress, according to Holmes' release.
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