A battle over sanctuary cities is about to make its way to a San Francisco courtroom.
Oakland, San Francisco and Santa Clara County are among more than dozen U.S. cities and counties now leading a new legal fight against the Trump administration.
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WATCH HEREThe group is suing the administration, saying President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting sanctuary cities violates the U.S. Constitution.
“This lawsuit is about ensuring that sanctuary policies will continue because they are legal and they are constitutional despite what Donald Trump and his allies would say,” said San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu.
Under the order, the Trump administration would strip federal funding from any city or county that limits cooperation with federal immigration officials. Chiu explained that’s potentially a $3 billion loss for San Francisco alone.
“He is allowed to enforce his laws with his ICE agents,” Chiu said. “Nothing in our policies impact that, but what we are saying is that Donald Trump is not allowed to commandeer our scarce law enforcement resources to commandeer our police officers as his ICE agents.”
Oakland City Councilmember Noel Gallo, a long-time supporter of sanctuary cities, said that protecting the funding is crucial. But so is protecting the revenue that comes from those immigrant communities.
“As a citizen, as a resident we need to maintain the funding levels to support our community. I’m the taxpayer, paying for the funding,” he said. “We need their skill levels but also their economic support for the country. It’s about supporting our immigrants that are here.”
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SIGN UP This isn't a new battle. Both San Francisco and Santa Clara County sued Trump over sanctuary city status during his first term and they won those suits.
Chiu is hopeful the courts will once again rule in their favor. Trump has previously said they intend to take the issue to the supreme court is necessary.
“They continue to lie about what sanctuary policies are about because it furthers their political purposes of demonizing our immigrant communities who are central to our local community,” he said.
On Wednesday, attorneys for both sides are expected to appear in a San Francisco federal court to make their arguments.
