A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration can not withhold federal funds from jurisdictions that limit their cooperation with immigration authorities, commonly known as sanctuary cities.
The order "does not purport to enjoin the Department's independent legal authority to enforce the requirements of federal law applicable to communities that violate federal immigration law or federal grant conditions", Justice spokesman Ian Prior said.
Despite many complaints from the administration that sanctuary cities are not honoring detainer requests by ICE, its own report now concedes that such cooperation is not required, and that failure to honor detainer requests can not provide grounds for withholding federal funds.
Mayor Bill de Blasio of NY, itself a sanctuary city, praised the Tuesday ruling, saying the president had gone beyond his authority to cut funding to cities that "don't share his illogical and unconstitutional desire to scapegoat immigrants".
California attorney general Xavier Becerra said the president was trying to "hijack crucial resources, sow fear among California families and make our communities less safe".
A White House statement said, "Today's ruling undermines faith in our legal system and raises serious questions about circuit shopping".
"Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement can not be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the president disapproves", the judge wrote.
The government hasn't cut off any money yet or declared any communities sanctuary cities.
Both city and county officials in Chicago said the judge's ruling supports their position. "The idea that an agency can't put in some reasonable restrictions on how some of these monies are spent is something that will be overturned eventually", he said, adding, "It's the 9th Circuit going bananas".
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But an attorney for the Justice Department, Chad Readler, said at a recent court hearing that it applied to a limited set of grants.
The Trump administration contends that local authorities endanger public safety when they decline to hand over for deportation illegal immigrants arrested for crimes.
Spicer accused Orrick, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, of "unilaterally" rewriting immigration policy, and accused cities like San Francisco of trying to "erase our borders" by engaging in "the risky and unlawful nullification of federal law".
"Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement can not be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the president disapproves", Orrick said.
In a statement, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said, "This is why we have courts - to halt the overreach of a president and an attorney general who either don't understand the Constitution or chose to ignore it".
The order also has led to lawsuits by Seattle; two MA cities, Lawrence and Chelsea; and a third San Francisco Bay Area government, the city of Richmond.
On Tuesday, mayors from several cities threatened with the loss of federal grants emerged from a meeting with Sessions saying they remain confused about how to prove their police are in compliance with immigration policies.
A federal appeals court blocked the travel ban.
Trump's words were also cited by federal judges in Maryland and Hawaii, who last month blocked his revised ban on new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries.
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