The federal appeals court in Chicago has rejected the Trump administration's efforts to punish so-called "sanctuary cities" for helping illegal immigrants.
The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the Justice Department cannot deny public safety grants to cities like Chicago that resist cooperating in the department's crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that "from day one when we said we weren't going to allow the Trump Justice Department to bully or intimidate the city off of its values.”
Chicago sued last year after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he would cut off cities 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 ruling makes it the latest federal court, along with courts in California and Philadelphia, to restrict what the administration can try to do to pressure jurisdictions that restrict some cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.