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California Beats Trump's Legal Attack on Sanctuary Laws

  • Justice Department may seek to appeal ruling to Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. cited supremacy of federal law in challenging state
Demonstrators holding placards listen to a speaker during a Families Belong Together rally in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday, June 28, 2018.

Demonstrators holding placards listen to a speaker during a Families Belong Together rally in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday, June 28, 2018.

Photographer: Dania Maxwell/Bloomberg
Updated on

A federal judge in Sacramento dismissed most of a lawsuit by the Trump administration attacking California’s trio of sanctuary laws aimed at protecting the state’s undocumented and immigrant community.

U.S. District Judge John Mendez agreed with most of the state’s request to throw out the government’s complaint, in which the Justice Department claimed California is circumventing federal authority by imposing its own rules for cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.