'Sanctuary' jurisdictions seek injunction against Trump administration's funding freeze

A group of 16 "sanctuary" jurisdictions, led by Santa Clara County and the City and County of San Francisco, asked a San Francisco federal judge to grant a preliminary injunction blocking the federal government from cutting off access to federal funds.

The Department of Justice responded in an email Wednesday, "The Department of Justice has made it crystal clear that sanctuary cities that continue to harbor dangerous illegal aliens will be sued and stripped of federal funding. In an effort to make America safe again, the Department will continue to vigorously enforce federal immigration law and cities and states that do not comply should expect aggressive legal action in return.

The motion, filed Monday, asks U.S. District Judge William Orrick to restrain the U.S. government from continuing to enforce President Donald Trump's executive orders from Jan. 20 that instructed two federal departments to freeze the delivery of funds to "sanctuary" cities and counties that refrain from aiding the federal government in enforcing immigration laws.

The Trump administration says the municipalities are interfering with enforcement and that supporting and helping people remain in the country illegally - as sanctuary cities do - is a violation of federal law.

David Chiu, San Francisco city attorney, and Tony LoPresti, Santa Clara county counsel, accused the Trump administration of trying to "bully counties and cities" into allowing the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to "commandeer local police officers as federal ICE agents," in a joint news release Tuesday on the filing of the motion.

"The federal government is illegally asserting rights it does not have, as courts already determined during the first Trump Administration. ... Eroding trust between our communities and law enforcement will make us all less safe. The Administration's actions are illegal and authoritarian, and we seek to put a stop to it," Chiu said.

LoPresti echoed Chiu's sentiments, saying local governments have a right to continue getting taxpayer funds and a right to avoid helping the federal government enforce immigration laws.

"The Trump Administration is putting the safety of millions of Americans at risk by threatening to withhold critical funding from local governments," LoPresti said.

Orrick will hear arguments on the preliminary injunction request on April 23. The media relations offices for the DOJ, Homeland Security, and the White House could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. The DOJ attorneys from Washington D.C. representing the government, Caroline McGuire and Christopher Ian Pryby, also did not respond to requests for comment

The other local government plaintiffs include: Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis and St. Paul. City and County of San Francisco et al. v. Trump et al., 3:25-cv-01350 (N.D. Cal. filed Feb. 7, 2025).

In the complaint, the plaintiffs claimed that Executive Orders 14218, 14159 and a list of "Sanctuary Jurisdictions Directives" U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi circulated to DOJ employees on Feb. 5 serve as a continuance of the Trump administration's attack on sanctuary cities from his first term as president.

Soon after taking office in January 2017, Trump issued Executive Order 13768 that instructed government agencies to withhold federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously ruled that executive order unconstitutional. City and County of San Francisco v. Trump et al., 17-17478 (9th Cir. Aug. 1, 2018).