Comment on Appeals court rules against Trump administration over ‘sanctuary cities’

A federal appeals court in Chicago ruled Thursday against the Trump administration’s effort to withhold federal funds for law enforcement from “sanctuary cities” — saying the term itself is an unfair attack on local authorities. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled unanimously against the Justice Department, saying the administration wrongly sought to use “the sword of federal funding to conscript state and local authorities to aid in federal civil immigration enforcement.” All three of the judges who issued the opinion were appointed by Republican presidents. The ruling marks the first time that a federal appeals court has weighed in on the fight between state and local governments — many of them run by Democrats — and the Trump administration over how much local police must help federal agents capture suspected undocumented immigrants.