IN ITS defence of Donald Trump’s order threatening to pull federal funding from “sanctuary cities”—localities that refuse to help the federal government deport people—lawyers from the Department of Justice tried to lower the stakes. Executive Order No. 13768, “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States”, signed on January 25th, has no legal effect to speak of, Mr Trump’s lawyers assured William Orrick, a district judge. The order was just an example of the president using his “bully pulpit” to broadcast his views on immigration policy. So San Francisco and Santa Clara, California have nothing to worry about; their billions of dollars in federal grants are safe.
This turned out to be a losing move. On April 25th, Mr Orrick provisionally extended a canopy over these sanctuary cities and handed Donald Trump another legal setback. After seeing both the first and revised versions of his travel ban halted by federal judges from east to west, Mr Trump has now been reprimanded a third time. Mr Orrick pointed to Mr Trump’s statement upon signing the order that “he was willing and able to use ‘defunding’ as a ‘weapon’ so that sanctuary cities would change their...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2oPz6w4
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