Federal judge rules in favor of Los Angeles in immigration suit against Sessions

A federal judge sided with the city of Los Angeles on Thursday in ruling that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can’t factor “sanctuary city” policies into decisions over how to award local policing grants. 

Bloomberg News reported that U.S. District Judge Manuel Real agreed with the city’s argument that the Justice Department was abusing its power in basing grant awards on whether a municipality’s police force cooperated with federal immigration officers.

The city sued over a grant program that helped local police departments hire more officers to carry out community-oriented policing, Bloomberg reported. 

{mosads}Thursday’s court ruling is the latest blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to crackdown on sanctuary cities, which do not direct their local police forces to enforce federal immigration law. 

President Trump issued an executive order last year blocking sanctuary cities from receiving certain federal funding. San Francisco sued over the order, and ultimately won its case.

California has emerged as one of the main adversaries of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Sessions announced last month that the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state over its immigration policies. The lawsuit aims to block three sanctuary laws the state’s legislature passed last year. 

The DOJ argues that the laws are designed to intentionally obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration law.