A federal appeals court has given the Trump administration a rare legal win in its efforts to crack down on “sanctuary cities.”
In a 2-1 decision Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Justice Department was within its rights to give priority status for multimillion-dollar community policing grants to departments that agree to co-operate with immigration officials. The opinion overturned a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles sued after it declined to certify its co-operation in 2017 and subsequently failed to win a grant.
The majority said the conditions imposed by DOJ were reasonably related to the purpose the grant was intended to serve.
Federal courts have blocked other efforts by the administration to withhold federal money from sanctuary cities.
Gene Johnson, The Associated Press
