Seattle and Portland’s lawsuit against the Donald Trump administration over sanctuary city orders is getting its day in court. A federal judge has denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss.
The City of Seattle first filed suit against the federal government back in March, after repeated threats to withhold federal dollars from what they deem “sanctuary cities.” At the time, Attorney General Jeff Sessions had just threatened to withhold Department of Justice law enforcement grants.
Seattle is considered a “sanctuary city” by most definitions, largely due to a 2003 ordinance that bars law enforcement officials from inquiring about residents’s immigration status
The federal government had filed a motion to dismiss the city’s suit in June, alleging no damage had been done since no specific funding had been withheld and since Seattle hadn’t officially been declared a “sanctuary city.”
Seattle’s initial suit argued that threats alone disrupt city business. In this most recent motion, the judge observed that the president has specifically mentioned Seattle as a “sanctuary city.”
The lawsuit was pursued by the Seattle city attorney’s office. City attorney Pete Holmes said in a statement that the city is “committed to rebuffing the Trump administration’s unconstitutional efforts to coerce us into supporting its divisive and un-American, anti-immigrant policies.”
Mayor Tim Burgess said in his own statement that he’s “pleased by today’s ruling” and that “Seattle will continue to stand up for all of its residents and push back against dangerous efforts to demonize them.”
This lawsuit is one of a few against the Trump administration spearheaded by our local government. Most recently, Washington state, along with others, filed another suit against the Trump administration over the decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.