The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a series of cases that tested the Trump administration’s plan to suspend law enforcement funds from cities that refused to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to deport noncitizens arrested by the local police. .
The court, which had yet to decide whether to hear the cases, acted soon after the Biden government and the state and municipal governments of New York and California asked the judges to reject the pending appeals.
Courts of first instance in New York and San Francisco reached several conclusions about the Department of Justice’s authority to withhold funds that Congress authorized to assist local police departments.
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“We are happy that this problem has finally been resolved,” said San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera. “Federal authorities can do their job in San Francisco, just like anywhere else in the country. But we were not prepared to allow our police, firefighters and nurses to be requisitioned and transformed into the Trump administration’s deportation force.”
About $ 1.4 million a year in federal funds was at stake for San Francisco, said the city’s attorney’s office.
“The ability of local authorities to protect their jurisdictions should never be compromised to promote an anti-immigrant agenda,” said New York State Attorney General Letitia James. “We look forward to continuing to work with the administration to ensure that the state and localities never have to choose between protecting their autonomy and protecting public security.”
The Justice Department declined to comment.
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Legal disputes have arisen at various times since 2017, when the Trump administration said it would withhold local government aid grants that refuse to comply with three new conditions. This includes informing immigration officers upon request for the scheduled release of anyone in custody “considered a foreigner”, allowing immigration officers to access local prisons and share information about the immigration situation with federal authorities.
The move targeted cities like New York and San Francisco, which have adopted so-called sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation with immigration officials. Local officials say these policies improve public security, increasing trust between immigrant communities and the police. The Trump administration said cities are tolerating the presence of non-citizens who have committed crimes and pose a danger to the public.