Becerra: California under ‘no obligation’ to uphold Trump’s unconstitutional order

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) on Tuesday said that the state does not have to respect President Trump’s executive order stopping federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities.

“A law must be passed by Congress,” Becerra said in an interview with CNN. “California respects all federal laws right now. We respect the federal Constitution. But we are under no obligation to respect an executive order that violates the U.S. Constitution — as we have now heard, another court says about another Trump executive order.”

{mosads}A San Francisco judge, William Orrick, has blocked the enforcement of Trump’s executive order on Tuesday in what is a preliminary victory for sanctuary cities and communities friendly to undocumented immigrants.

According to the ruling, however, the Justice Department can still withhold grants from cities that fail to comply with the immigration law, but it cannot enforce the executive order “in a way that violates the Constitution,” according to Matt Zapotosky of The Washington Post.

The judge reportedly noted that the injunction “does nothing more than implement the effect of the Government’s flawed interpretation of the Order.”

“It does not affect the ability of the Attorney General or the Secretary to enforce existing conditions of federal grants … nor does it impact the Secretary’s ability to develop regulations or other guidance defining what a sanctuary jurisdiction is or designating a jurisdiction as such.”

Orrick, who was appointed by former President Obama, maintained that the executive order violated the U.S. Constitution by seeking to punish local communities through an attempt to “deprive local jurisdictions of congressional allocated funds without any notice or opportunity to be heard.”