Trump Administration Sues California Over Immigration Laws
The lawsuit claims that the statutes “reflect a deliberate effort by California to obstruct the United States’ enforcement of federal immigration law.” It also says the laws regulate private entities
that want to cooperate with the federal authorities and “impede consultation and communication between federal and state law enforcement officials.”
Mr. Brown called the lawsuit a “political stunt.”
“At a time of unprecedented political turmoil, Jeff Sessions has come to California to further divide
and polarize America,” Mr. Brown said in a statement.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday evening in Federal District Court in Sacramento is the first against a
local or state government over its immigration policies filed by the Justice Department under Mr.
Department officials said that they would not rule out the possibility of other lawsuits against local
governments whose policies interfere with the federal government’s authority on immigration.
“The administration is just angry that a state has stood up to them — one
that embraces diversity and inclusivity and is the sixth-largest economy in the world thanks to the hard-working immigrants who want to become American citizens,” said Kevin de León, the leader of the California State Senate who wrote one of the sanctuary city laws named in the suit.
In the state budget bill, California lawmakers prohibited new contracts for immigration detention in the state
and gave the state attorney general the power to monitor all state immigration detention centers.