Trump’s Controversial Transgender and Immigration Policies Suffer Legal Defeat

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Trump’s Controversial Transgender and Immigration Policies Suffer Legal Defeat
Trump’s Controversial Transgender and Immigration Policies Suffer Legal Defeat

The Trump administration suffered two significant legal defeats this week, one in regards to its policy related to immigration and another with respect to transgenders in military.

A California judge permanently blocked a presidential order that seeks to cut federal funding to cities that refuse to co-operate with federal immigration officials. In Maryland, a judge blocked an order that bans transgender people from serving in the military.

President Donald Trump’s travel ban on select countries has also been hit by setbacks in courts nationwide.

Trump Administration Order Threatening Cities’ Funding “Unconstitutional”

While making his ruling, California US District Judge William Orrick stated that the Trump administration’s immigration order was “unconstitutional on its face”.

The judge had temporarily blocked the order earlier this year in April.

Judge Orrick noted that the US Constitution grants spending powers to the Congress, not the President, which makes it unconstitutional for an Executive Order to place new conditions on usage of federal funds.

According to him, when federal funds have no significant relationship with immigration enforcement activities it cannot be threatened just because a jurisdiction decides to follow an immigration strategy that disapproved of by the President.

The executive order was issued in January just days after President Trump took over.

The order seeks to withhold funding from cities that refuse to co-operate with federal immigration requests to give up any individual arrested in relation to a crime and suspected of entering the country illegally.

Several local municipalities such as New York, Chicago,  and Los Angeles have since joined the “sanctuary movement”.

The legal suit was filed by San Francisco and Santa Clara County stating that they would lose millions of dollars in federal grant funding in case the president’s order was enforced.

Court Exceeding Its Authority, Department of Justice Alleges

Responding to the court order, a Department of Justice spokesman Devin O’Malley said that the Court of Appeals had “exceeded its authority today” when it issued a ruling barring the President from giving instructions to his cabinet members .

The federal authority has already filed an appeal against Judge Orrick’s April ruling.

According to San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, the ruling was “a victory for the American people and the rule of law.”  He further noted that no one including the president was above the law, adding that President Trump cannot grant himself new powers arbitrarily.

President Trump is yet to respond on the final ruling.

After the initial ruling blocking the order was issued, he had called it “ridiculous”.  The White House had commented at that time that the Judge’s order was a “gift” to gangs that threaten innocent lives.

In August, the city of Chicago had also sued the federal government over the threats to cut funding. A federal court judge had then ordered a temporary blocking of the US government withholding public safety related funding to the city.

Banning Transgender From Military  Not “A Legitimate Government Interest”

In Baltimore, US District Judge Marvin Garbis gave the Trump administration its second legal defeat of the week by issuing an order blocking the enforcement of the administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.

According to Judge Garbis the policy “cannot possibly constitute a legitimate government interest”.

His ruling follows a similar one passed by a federal judge in October in Washington.

 

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