April 19 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Thursday said the U.S. Justice Department cannot deny public safety grants to so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court injunction in a case brought by the city of Chicago.
The appeals court agreed the injunction should apply nationally while the lawsuit proceeds in federal court.
The case is one of a number of battles between Republican President Donald Trump’s administration and Democratic state and local leaders over immigration, health care, the environment and other issues.
Chicago sued last year after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he would cut offcities from certain Justice Department grants unless they allowed federal immigration authorities unlimited access to local jails and provided 48 hours notice before releasing anyone wanted for immigration violations.
The lawsuit contended that Sessions exceeded his authority by imposing new conditions beyond those Congress prescribed when it established the grant program.
In its ruling on Thursday, a three-judge Seventh Circuit panel said its role was not to decide national immigration policy, but rather to protect the separation of powers between the branches of the federal government.
“The Attorney General in this case used the sword of federal funding to conscript state and local authorities to aid in federal civil immigration enforcement,” the court wrote. “But the power of the purse rests with Congress”
Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley said the agency believes it exercised authority given by Congress to promote cooperation with immigration authorities.
“We will continue to fight to carry out the Department’s commitment to the rule of law, protecting public safety, and keeping criminal aliens off the streets to further perpetrate crimes,” O’Malley said.
President Donald Trump made tougher immigration enforcement a centerpiece of his campaign and presidency, along with a pledge to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexican border.
All three judges on the Seventh Circuit panel were nominated by Republican presidents.
Police agencies in so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions, like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, have generally barred their officers from routinely checking individuals’ immigration status, and from keeping anyone locked up longer than otherwise warranted at the request of immigration agents.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Thursday that the city would stand its ground when it comes to immigrants.
“We’re not going to allow the Trump Justice Department to bully our values,” he said.
(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago and Sarah Lynch in Washington Editing by Toni Reinhold)