LA County To Challenge Trump's Plan to Cut Funding To Sanctuary Cities

LOS ANGELES, CA - The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday in closed session to submit "friend of the court" briefs in lawsuits filed by Santa Francisco and Santa Clara counties against President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to cut off federal funds to "sanctuary" jurisdictions.

The executive order, released Jan. 25 and entitled "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States," blocks federal funding for jurisdictions that fail to enforce federal immigration law.

"Sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States willfully violate federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States," the order states. "These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our republic."

An analysis by the UCLA Undocumented Legal Services Center cites multiple reasons why the order may exceed executive authority or be deemed unconstitutional.

"The Supreme Court has ruled on several occasions that under the 10th Amendment, the federal government cannot require state sand local officials to carry out any federal regulatory program," according to the analysis.

At minimum, Congress will have to act to carry out the executive order, since it controls the federal budget.

Courts have ruled that conditions imposed on federal funds must be related to the purpose of the federal funds at stake, so, for example, holding back federal transportation dollars based on a lack of immigration enforcement might not stand up to legal scrutiny.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell has said that enforcing immigration law is the federal government's responsibility.

"My deputies will not detain or arrest any individual solely on suspicion of illegal presence in the United States," McDonnell said in January.

Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck has also focused on building community trust to help fight crime and said he will not break that trust by helping to deport immigrants.

The country's 10 largest cities have $2.27 billion at risk in the legal battle, according to an analysis by Reuters. The city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County are listed in third place, with an estimated $466.2 million at stake in programs such as community development block grants, early childhood education and public housing, according to the news service.

Trump press secretary Sean Spicer called that money a taxpayer subsidy.

"The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidize this disregard for our laws," Spicer said in January.

Legislators in more than a half-dozen states have introduced laws inspired by the executive order that aim to block state funding to sanctuary cities.

City News Service; Photo: LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 18: People carry signs during the Immigrants Make America Great March to protest actions being taken by the Trump administration on February 18, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Protesters are calling for an end to stepped up ICE raids and deportations, and that health care be provided for documented and undocumented people. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images News/Getty Images)