SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ The city of San Francisco on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration that alleges federal threats to withhold funding from "sanctuary cities" aren't allowed by law and violate the rights of city residents.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is seeking a federal injunction to prevent the federal government from imposing new grant-funding conditions on cities. Such conditions would require them to help federal immigration officials in the detention and transfer of people in the country illegally.
"These conditions do not appear in any federal statute, and they do not reflect the will of Congress in appropriating funds," the lawsuit says. " ... To the contrary, the new conditions are simply the latest attempt by the Trump Administration to coerce state and local jurisdictions into carrying out the federal government's immigration enforcement priorities."
The suit was filed against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Federal grants to the city would be jeopardized under threats from Sessions to withhold federal law enforcement grants from cities if they do not certify their laws comply with federal requirements.
