Trump Executive Order On Sanctuary Cities: San Francisco Asks Court To Block Order Cutting Federal Funds

The city of San Francisco challenged the legality of President Donald Trump’s executive order that threatens to cut federal funds from ‘sanctuary cities’ Wednesday and asked a federal judge to block the order and declare that San Francisco’s sanctuary policies are in compliance with federal law.

A sanctuary city is any territorial area in which the local law enforcement bodies don’t coordinate with federal authorities to deport illegal immigrants. Several areas such as San Francisco, California, Connecticut, New Mexico, Colorado, Connecticut, Rhode Island, North Dakota and Oregon have been identified as sanctuary cities. Following Trump's travel ban, San Francisco became the first city to sue Trump, followed by two Massachusetts cities, Lawrence and Chelsea and Santa Clara County.

Read : What Is A Sanctuary City? Chicago Mayor Reiterates City’s Stand On Deportation Of Illegal Immigrants Despite Trump’s Election

Seeking an injunction in U.S. District Court against the Trump order threatening to cut funding, the City Attorney Dennis Herrera warns that if the “defendants strip all federal funds from San Francisco, the result will be ‘catastrophic,” according to San Francisco Chronicler. He explained is required to adopt an annual budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017.

However, without ample clarity on how much money San Francisco can loose, which could be up to $2 billion, Hererra says, it puts the city in a fix. “It is a question of whether we hold funds back now and place on reserve or spend general fund dollars and make possible cuts later,” Mayor Ed Lee said.

“With a stroke of his pen, President Trump is trying to seize the spending power that our Constitution entrusts to Congress. ... These entitlement programs are not the president’s to take away from those in need, and San Francisco is not one to back down from a bully,” Herrera said, according to LA Times.

"We will certainly not stand for sanctuary even cities, let alone states," President Trump had said in an interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.