San Francisco leads coalition in new lawsuit against Trump’s sanctuary jurisdiction crackdown

Dolores Park in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco, California. San Francisco County is leading a multi-jurisdiction lawsuit against the Trump administration's crackdown against immigrant sanctuary policies. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

The counties of San Francisco and Santa Clara in California in addition to King County, Washington, and the cities of Portland, Oregon, and New Haven, Connecticut, have sued the Trump administration alleging it has threatened and unlawfully targeted sanctuary jurisdictions, according to a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California.

The suit, filed Friday, cited President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal funds be withheld “from jurisdictions that refuse to use their local resources to carry out his immigration agenda,” and a February 5 Department of Justice memo the suit alleges “threatens not only termination of funding but also civil and criminal prosecution of any jurisdiction that refuses to comply.”

The plaintiffs say their lawsuit seeks to “check this abuse of power,” and asks the court to declare the Trump administration’s actions unlawful and prevent their enforcement.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

“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,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a Friday news release announcing the suit. “This is the federal government coercing local officials to bend to their will or face defunding or prosecution. That is illegal and authoritarian.”

In its lawsuit, the coalition claims the Trump administration’s actions have violated 10th Amendment, the separation of powers, the spending clause, due process clause and the Administrative Procedures Act, which sets certain guidelines for how agencies can roll out policies.

“In flagrant disregard of the law, President Trump seeks once again to punish those who disagree with him, coerce local authorities, and commandeer them into carrying out his agenda,” the lawsuit reads.

This is not the first time San Francisco has taken legal action against the Trump administration over sanctuary city policies. In 2017, the city sued Trump over an executive order making sanctuary jurisdictions ineligible for federal grants. At the time, a federal judge issued a permanent injunction blocking the order.

Chiu said there are not many differences between the 2017 and 2025 lawsuits and noted Trump “is reinstating the original executive order.”

“But in addition to that, he is now also threatening local officials, state officials, with investigations, criminal and civil prosecutions.”

The city attorney said San Francisco is taking preemptive legal action rather than waiting. The administration’s lawsuit against Chicago, Cook County and Illinois filed last week was a clear indicator that enforcement of Trump’s policies is now a reality, Chiu said.

The Trump administration’s lawsuit is the first major challenge from the administration against Democratic-led cities and states that have opposed the use of local law enforcement to help the federal government enforce civil immigration laws. Trump officials have repeatedly criticized those policies, often singling out Chicago, where the administration recently conducted an immigration enforcement operation.

“From our perspective, we think any and all sanctuary jurisdictions are going to be targeted,” Chiu said, adding he expects more jurisdictions to join the lawsuit against the administration.