United States District Court, Northern District of California, County of Santa Clara v. Donald Trump, et. al. (Case No. 17-cv-00574-WHO) and City and County of San Francisco v. Donald Trump, et al. (Case No. 17-cv-00485-WHO), November 20, 2017

Eligibility of Sanctuary Jurisdictions to Federal Grants; Constitutionality of Section 9 (a) of Executive Order 13768

Abstract

On November 22, 2017, United States District Judge William H. Orrick of the Northern District of California issued a nationwide permanent injunction against the Trump administration for enforcing Section 9 (a) of the Executive Order 13768 of January 25, 2017 against entities deemed sanctuary jurisdictions by the Administration. Instead of confining its ruling to enforcement actions by the Administration against the plaintiffs (the county of Santa Clara and the city and county of San Francisco), Judge Orrick issued instead a nationwide injunction because he found Section 9 (a), which seeks principally to deprive sanctuary jurisdictions of federal grants, to be unconstitutional on its face. In so ordering, judge Orrick sided with the plaintiffs whose motions seeking summary judgment had argued the facial unconstitutionality of Section 9 (a) on four grounds: non-respect of the principle of separation of powers, excessive powers, violation of prohibitions against commandeering, and lack of due process. Besides the question of funding, Judge Orrick also addressed, albeit tangentially, the legality of civil detainer requests, which is at the heart of the Trump administration’s policy toward sanctuary jurisdictions.