The Trump administration can not link funding to immigration



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SAN FRANCISCO –

A US California judge on Friday overturned an immigration law that the Trump administration was attacking cities and states restricting their cooperation with immigration officials.

The decision by Judge William Orrick also enjoined the US Department of Justice to pay California $ 28 million that were blocked under the state's immigration policy.

This was at least the third decision of a US District Court Judge in recent months, declaring the Immigration Act unconstitutional.

However, none of the three decisions immediately invalidated law enforcement nationwide. The law prohibits states and cities from preventing civil servants from reporting the immigration status of citizens to US authorities.

Orrick's decision Friday as part of lawsuits in California and San Francisco is perhaps the largest so far, as it concerns a major target of opposition from the administration to the courts sanctuaries. Orrick has banned Attorney General Jeff Sessions from enforcing the immigration law against California, its cities or counties.

DOJ spokesman, Devin O 'Malley, declined to comment.

The Trump administration says sanctuary cities and states allow dangerous criminals to return to the streets.

San Francisco and other sanctuary cities are opposed to the fact that the transformation of the local police into immigration agents undermines the trust needed to get people to report crimes committed locally.

Orrick said the immigration law "undermines existing national and local policies and deprives local decision-makers of the power to decide for themselves whether or not they want to communicate with the" agents of the government. immigration. It also transfers some of the costs of applying immigration to states, he said.

"California expresses the legitimate concern that entanglement with the application of federal immigration law undermines the confidence of Latin American and undocumented immigrant communities in the world." enforcement of local law, "said the judge.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the decision was a victory.

"We will continue to resist the Trump administration's attempts to force our law and order forces to change their policies and practices in ways that make us less safe," he said in a statement.

The administration cited the law in a lawsuit filed in March against California to block three state laws.

One of the laws prevents the police from providing the release dates and personal information of the detainees. Information Administration officials say that it is necessary to safely dispose of dangerous people who are illegally in the country.

US Judge John Mendez in Sacramento has allowed California to continue to enforce this law.

California could use Orrick's ruling to ask Mendez to dismiss the administration's claim that the state would violate the 1996 law, said David Levine, trial and procedure expert. the federal courts of the University of California, Hastings College of Law.

Sessions announced more than a year ago that cities and states could only receive grants from Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance that they allow federal immigration officials. to have access to detention centers and warn of the release of someone illegally in the country.

Orrick ruled on Friday that the US Department of Justice could not require San Francisco and California to meet these requirements for the Byrne grant.

"These unconstitutional granting conditions are another example of a presidential overtaking," San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement.

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