April 25, 2017 - This afternoon a federal judge in San Francisco blocked President Trump from withholding funds from sanctuary cities and counties. In his ruling, Judge William H. Orrick sided with nonprofits, Santa Clara County, the City and County of San Francisco and other jurisdictions, who argued that a threat to take away federal funds from sanctuary cities could be unconstitutional. The judge halted these actions by granting a preliminary injunction, which will stay in place while the lawsuit moves through court.

CalNonprofits is proud to have been part of the amicus brief supporting the request for an injunction. We partnered with two county governments, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits, and other nonprofit organizations to take a stand because President Trump's executive order would have hurt our communities and damaged our ability to serve them.

In making the ruling apply nationwide, Orrick blocked the government from enforcing a key portion of Trump's January executive order on immigration, which ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department to block cities who do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement from receiving federal funds.

You can read the injunction order here and the nonprofit amicus brief here. We'll keep you posted on further developments. For now, this is a victory for the California nonprofit community, our values, and the people we serve.