SEATTLE, WA – The Seattle city attorney and Washington attorney general say recent threats by President Donald Trump to halt federal payments to sanctuary jurisdictions starting in February lack legal standing.
Trump made the remarks during an hour-long speech Tuesday to members of the Detroit Economic Club that covered a wide range of topics including Detroit’s automotive industry, inflation and immigration.
Toward the end of his speech, Trump turned his attention to sanctuary cities.
“No country can afford to take in millions of people, pay for their education, their healthcare, [and] their hospitals. We all have a heart [but] you can’t do it,” Trump said.
The president claimed that many foreign nationals are criminals, including murderers and drug dealers, before stating his next move to address illegal immigration in sanctuary jurisdictions.
“Starting Feb. 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities, because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens and it breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come,” said Trump amid applause from the crowd. “So we’re not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities.
Trump’s comments target, among others, Washington state and Seattle, which are among more than 100 sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
This includes the Keep Washington Working Act, which bars local police from collecting immigration statuses unless it is relevant to state or local investigations.
Seattle’s sanctuary policies date back to 2003 when the city adopted its “Don’t Ask” policy, which barred Seattle employees from inquiring about someone’s immigration status.
The offices of Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown pointed to previous lawsuits against the Trump administration. Those cases included a ruling by former President Barack Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge William Orrick, who issued and extended a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from withholding funds from sanctuary jurisdictions.
Washington Attorney General’s Office Deputy Communications Director Mike Faulk told The Center Square that existing law favors the state and Seattle over the president.
“Congress has the power of the purse, and the law says the federal government cannot withhold funds to coerce states to go along with the president’s extreme political agenda,” Faulk emailed The Center Square. “The president’s previous attempts to make federal funding contingent on state immigration enforcement led to several of our successful lawsuits against the administration for illegally withholding or canceling grants.”
Evans also referenced the City Attorney’s Office’s prior litigation against the federal government.
“Seattle and countless other cities have already successfully challenged similar directives in court – a federal judge’s injunction prohibiting President Trump’s previous attempt to starve and impoverish people for making policy decisions he dislikes still stands,” Evans said in a statement emailed to The Center Square. “The city will continue to defend the rule of law and advocate for its legal right to be a welcoming place for all people.”
One day after Trump announced the funding threat, the U.S. Department of Justice dropped its appeal of a ruling blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to withhold annual U.S. Department of Transportation grants from states that do not assist the federal immigration enforcement.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s office did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment at the time of publication.
