A federal judge warned Friday that President Trump’s executive order seeking to withdraw funds from 16 sanctuary jurisdictions cannot be used to bypass his previous ruling blocking the effort.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick said their “pre-enforcement standing” grants municipalities legal standing to interact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the manner they’ve chosen.
“In light of all these considerations, I clarify that neither Executive Order 14,287 nor any other Government action that postdates the Preliminary Injunction can be used as an end run around the Preliminary Injunction Order,” Orrick, an Obama appointee, wrote.
Ollick instructed the government to provide written notice of his order clarifying the preliminary injunction to all departments and agencies by Friday. He noted that the injunction applies to the government’s “proscribed conduct” including existing executive orders and those that are unpublished.
The Trump administration has a plethora of court battles regarding wrongful deportation and illegal removals. Since November, White House officials said they would aim to carry out the largest deportation in the country’s history.
Last September, then President-elect Trump suggested the nation ban sanctuary cities as a whole.
“As soon as I take office, we will immediately surge federal law enforcement to every city that is failing, which is a lot of them, to turn over criminal aliens, and we will hunt down, capture every single gang member, drug dealer, rapist, murderer and migrant criminal that is being illegally harbored,” Trump said during a rally in Wilmington, N.C.
“I will ask Congress to pass a law outlawing sanctuary cities nationwide, and we demand the full weight of the federal government on any jurisdiction that refuses to cooperate with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement],” the president said.
The Trump administration has already integrated federal law enforcement and agencies into ICE operations in Florida leading to the arrest of over 1,000 undocumented immigrants.
Lawmakers have not yet received a proposal to outlaw sanctuary jurisdictions.