Judge blocks Trump admin from pulling funding for 34 cities, counties over 'sanctuary' policies

A federal judge issued a late-night ruling on Friday, blocking the Trump administration from cutting federal funding for 34 cities and counties because of their "sanctuary" policies that limit local cooperation with federal immigration efforts. 

U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco extended his previous injunction to cover additional locations, after his original order blocked the administration from pulling funding for more than a dozen other cities and counties, per the Associated Press.

The Justice Department earlier this month released a list of sanctuary cities, states and counties that it was monitoring based on each location's actions and policies that impede enforcement of federal immigration statutes and regulations.

The Trump administration has also sued multiple states and cities over their sanctuary policies, including New York, Colorado, Illinois, Los Angeles and several New Jersey cities.

Orrick determined in his initial injunction from April that portions of President Donald Trump's executive orders, which instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem not to fund sanctuary jurisdictions, were unconstitutional. 

The judge's new order prohibited the administration from imposing immigration-related conditions on two federal grant programs, in addition to the initial order's instruction not to "directly or indirectly [take] any action to withhold, freeze, or condition federal funds” based on a jurisdiction's sanctuary status.

The White House has not commented on the latest ruling so far, but the Justice Department appealed the first ruling.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.