The Justice Department is ramping up legal pressure on sanctuary cities across America. Multiple lawsuits filed against Chicago, Denver, New Jersey cities.
Pam Bondi’s DOJ has frozen federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions.
Bondi was confirmed by the Senate late Tuesday and was sworn in in front of President Trump by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon. First thing she did? ordered a pause in federal funding from the Justice Department for sanctuary cities, pending a review of any agreements that may violate the law.
“You better comply with federal law, or you will be next,” Bondi warned governors on Fox News.
The Trump administration ain’t playing around. The Department of Justice is suing the City of Chicago, the state of Illinois and Cook County over their “sanctuary laws” that limit cooperation with immigration authorities. The feds say these cities are “making it more difficult for, and deliberately impeding, federal immigration officers‘ ability to carry out their responsibilities.
THE SANCTUARY CITY FIGHTS
Here’s what’s happening.
Denver got sued. Colorado got sued. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in Denver and it states: “The United States has well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority to regulate immigration matters.” Rochester, New York – sued. Four New Jersey cities including Newark and Jersey City? Yep, sued too.
Chicago’s been a major target for ICE operations since Trump came back. Fear spreading through immigrant communities there. Schools on edge.
But get this – the sanctuary cities are fighting back. Hard.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced that San Francisco, and a coalition of local jurisdictions from across the country, are filing a lawsuit later today against the Trump Administration over Executive Orders and Administration actions illegally harming cities and states that have sanctuary policies. They’re calling Trump’s actions “illegal and authoritarian.”
Portland joined. New Haven joined. King County, Washington – they’re all in. Cities and counties led by San Francisco and the county of Santa Clara, California, said in a lawsuit in California federal court that the Republican president’s administration was unlawfully trying to force local officials to cooperate by threatening them with a loss of funding and prosecution.
The cities got a win already. U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco issued the injunction at the request of 16 cities and counties nationally. The judge blocked Trump from withholding federal funds.
THE L.A. SITUATION
Now about Los Angeles. While we couldn’t verify a specific Monday lawsuit against LA with the quote attributed to Bondi about riots and violence, there’s definitely major tension there.
Back in June, things got wild in LA. Attorney General Pam Bondi went on the offensive Wednesday, accusing California Gov. Gavin Newsom of taking a soft approach to protecting the streets and businesses of Los Angeles, promising that anti-ICE rioters and looters will face federal charges.
“We’ve all seen the news—drugstores being robbed, looted, even the Apple Store just got hit. We’re watching this unfold live,” Bondi said, adding, “And to me, this isn’t just looting—we’re applying the Hobbs Act. We’re treating it as robbery to protect Californians.
Over 23 businesses looted. Mayor Karen Bass had to declare a local emergency. Put a curfew on downtown LA.
Congress even launched an investigation. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement Chairman Clay Higgins (R-La.) today are launching an investigation into the violent riots in Los Angeles that are occurring amid federal immigration enforcement actions.
WHAT’S A SANCTUARY CITY ANYWAY
There’s no official definition really. But basically these are places that limit how much local cops help ICE. They won’t hold immigrants for federal agents without a court order. Won’t let ICE into their jails. That kind of thing.
The cities say it makes people safer – immigrants will report crimes if they’re not scared of deportation. Trump says it protects criminals.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker fired back at the lawsuit: “The bipartisan Illinois TRUST Act, signed into law by a Republican governor, has always been compliant with federal law and still is today”.
THE MONEY FIGHT
This is where it gets messy. Bondi froze federal funding to sanctuary cities on day one. We’re talking millions in grants for police equipment, community programs, violence prevention.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) provides federal funds to American cities to support law enforcement, community safety and justice system improvements. The Byrne grants, the Violence Against Women Act money – all frozen pending review.
But here’s the thing. Last time Trump tried this? The courts stopped him. During his first term as president, Trump in 2017 signed a similar executive order targeting sanctuary jurisdictions. San Francisco sued then, too, leading Orrick to block the policy in a ruling that was upheld by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Here we are again,” the judge wrote.
BONDI’S HARDLINE STANCE
Pam Bondi ain’t backing down though. When asked about pushback from sanctuary state governors, she had three words: “Bring it on.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said President Donald Trump’s administration will “find illegal aliens” and “deport them in Illinois, New York and other states,” in her latest warning to Democratic governors.
She’s set up a whole “weaponization working group” to review how the Biden administration handled things. First priority? Looking at the Trump prosecutions in New York.
THE DOUBLE STANDARD QUESTION
Critics are pointing out something interesting. Trump pardoned all those January 6 rioters who attacked cops. But now he’s prosecuting LA protesters for the same thing?
When reporters asked Bondi about this, she said “Well, this is very different. These are people out there hurting people in California right now. This is ongoing.”
California Governor Newsom called BS on that. “Trump, he’s not opposed to lawlessness and violence, as long as it serves him. What more evidence do we need than Jan. 6?”
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
These lawsuits gonna wind up at the Supreme Court probably. Both sides digging in hard.
San Francisco’s City Attorney put it bluntly: “This is the federal government illegally asserting a right it does not have, telling cities how to use their resources, and commandeering local law enforcement. This is the federal government coercing local officials to bend to their will or face defunding or prosecution. That is illegal and authoritarian.”
The sanctuary cities say their policies have been around for decades. San Francisco’s had theirs since 1989. They say it’s about public safety – people gotta trust the cops.
But Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, sees it different. He says every elected official should want “public safety threats removed from their community. That’s your number one responsibility is to protect communities.”
One legal expert in San Diego thinks this Chicago lawsuit is just the beginning. “He’s not going to spread all his resources and try to sue everyone at once without having a strong precedent. Once we start seeing the arguments in this case, it will be indicative as to whether or not they will move to other cities like Los Angeles, like San Diego, like New York”.
The Trump administration’s making it clear – sanctuary cities are in their crosshairs. Whether the courts let them pull the trigger? That’s the billion dollar question.
Major cities like New York, LA, Chicago all got sanctuary policies. Millions in federal funding on the line. And nobody’s backing down.
This fight’s just getting started.
