The White House has sharply criticized a U.S. federal judge's ruling blocking a directive from President Donald Trump to withhold funding from sanctuary jurisdictions - those that limit their cooperation with U.S. immigration agents.
“San Francisco, and cities like it, are putting the well-being of criminal aliens before the safety of our citizens, and those city officials who authored these policies have the blood of dead Americans on their hands,” the White House said in a statement late Tuesday.
The reaction came hours after U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued a temporary ruling that will remain in effect while a lawsuit over a provision in a Trump executive order makes its way through the court. The January 25 executive order called for federal funding to be withheld from sanctuary jurisdictions, and the judge said the president cannot put new conditions on money already allocated by Congress.