An Appeals Court Just Thwarted Trump’s Efforts to Punish Sanctuary Cities

The administration’s tactics could lead to “tyranny.”

An immigration protest outside the U.S. Capitol last month.Ting Shen/Xinhua via ZUMA Wire

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A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower court’s decision to issue a national injunction against the Trump administration’s efforts to deny federal funding to sanctuary cities.

The three-judge panel sided with the city of Chicago, which sued the Trump administration last year after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the DOJ would deny certain publicly safety grants to law enforcement agencies in cities that limited their cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The city’s lawyers had argued that Sessions exceeded his authority when he placed conditions on the grants beyond what Congress had outlined when it set up the programs. The judges agreed, ruling to uphold the injunction while Chicago’s lawsuit winds its way through the federal courts.

“The Attorney General in this case used the sword of federal funding to conscript state and local authorities to aid in federal civil immigration enforcement,” Judge Ilana Rovner on behalf of the court. “But the power of the purse rests with Congress[.]”

In a strong rebuke to the administration, Rovner added that allowing federal agencies to manipulate conditions for grant funding without congressional approval could lead to “tyranny.”

The legal bout is but one of many between the administration and cities and states challenging its immigration policies.

Correction: This article has been revised to more accurately describe the ruling, which upheld a lower court’s decision to issue a nationwide injunction.

 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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