Court ruling in favor of Trump in 'sanctuary cities' fight won't impact CA

A federal judge's ruling that allows the Trump administration to withhold funding to 'sanctuary cities' that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities won't impact California, officials said on Wednesday. 

The decision made the federal appeals court in New York only covers the 2 Circuit; California is in the 9th Circuit. 

"We won an injunction in 2018 to prevent this rule from going into effect across California," the San Francisco City Attorney's Office said.

Wednesday's ruling from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's decision ordering the administration to release funding to New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Rhode Island.

The states and city sued the U.S. government after the Justice Department announced in 2017 that it would withhold grant money from cities and states until they gave federal immigration authorities access to jails and provide advance notice when someone in the country illegally is about to be released.

Before the change, cities and states seeking grant money were required only to show they were not preventing local law enforcement from communicating with federal authorities about the immigration status of people who were detained.

At the time, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said: “So-called ‘sanctuary’ policies make all of us less safe because they intentionally undermine our laws and protect illegal aliens who have committed crimes.”

The 2nd Circuit said the plain language of relevant laws make clear that the U.S. attorney general can impose conditions on states and municipalities receiving money.

And it noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly observed that the federal government maintains broad power over states when it comes to immigration policies.

In the past two years, federal appeals courts in Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco have ruled against the federal government by upholding lower-court injunctions placed on the enforcement of some or all of the challenged conditions.

The appeals rulings pertain to the issuance of the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

Created in 2006, it is the vehicle through which Congress annually dispenses over $250 million in federal funding for state and local criminal justice efforts.

The Byrne Program was named for New York City Police Officer Edward Byrne, who at age 22 was shot to death while guarding the home of a Guyanese immigrant cooperating with authorities investigating drug trafficking.