San Francisco said on Friday that it would join several other cities in suing the Trump administration over its efforts to get them to comply with its immigration policies, pushing back against federal directives to punish jurisdictions that resist.
It is the latest step in what is shaping up to be a flurry of litigation over the White House’s plan to deport large numbers of people who are in the country without authorization. On Thursday, the Trump administration sued Chicago, Cook County and Illinois, accusing them of obstructing the federal government’s enforcement of immigration laws.
Jurisdictions with “sanctuary” policies, refer to cities and states, typically liberal leaning, that limit their level of cooperation with federal agencies’ efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. Officials argue that they are under no obligation to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement in what is inherently a federal responsibility.
In addition to San Francisco, Santa Clara County, Calif., and the cities of Portland, Ore., New Haven, Conn., and King County, Wash., joined in the complaint, which officials are expected to file later on Friday. David Chiu, the San Francisco city attorney, said he expects other cities to join in the lawsuit as well.
The current dispute between the administration and sanctuary jurisdictions is largely over local corrections officials releasing undocumented inmates from custody without first coordinating with ICE. Often ICE will ask a local jail to hold an undocumented inmate for two days past their release date so an agent can pick the person up and put them in deportation proceedings.
This week, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the Justice Department to investigate local officials and withhold grant funding from jurisdictions that do not assist ICE with civil immigration enforcement.
“No one is interfering with the federal government’s ability to do their job, but the Trump administration is certainly interfering with our ability to do our job,” Mr. Chiu said during a news conference on Friday. “This is the federal government coercing local officials to bend to their will or face defunding or prosecution, and that is illegal or authoritarian.”
Mark Fleming, a lawyer with the National Immigrant Justice Center, said that the first Trump administration tried to withhold funds but was mostly unsuccessful.
In its lawsuit against Chicago, the Trump administration argued that these policies result in criminals being released into communities, putting people at risk. Federal agents have conducted several immigration operations in cities, including in Chicago, in the few weeks Mr. Trump has been in office.
Last week, the Justice Department threatened to investigate an Ithaca, N.Y.-area sheriff who released an inmate per a judge’s instructions after the man pleaded guilty to a third degree assault charge. ICE agents arrested the inmate who was also charged with the federal crime of re-entering the country without permission.
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