The Golden City Sues the Golden-Haired Man

Donald Trump’s first weeks in office have been, well, controversial to say the least. The country seems to be completely polarized- black and white with no room for grey. Two armies are building, the ProTrumps and the AntiTrumps, and everyone is picking a side.

Trump has openly expressed his opposition to illegal immigration and the cities and counties that protect nearly eleven million undocumented migrants from federal law. Recently, he has issued an executive order stating that the federal funding of these four-hundred sanctuary cities will be cut if they refuse to comply with immigration agents.

The order provides that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), along with the Department of Justice (DoJ), will investigate cities suspected of violating federal law, and will develop methods for removing federal money from their jurisdiction. Along with this, the DHS will be compiling a list of “criminal actions” executed by illegal immigrants.

One of these sanctuary cities, which is susceptible to a loss of over one billion dollars annually, is San Francisco.  The city by the bay retaliated by suing the Trump administration, arguing that the order was a violation of the provision of states’ rights in the Constitution. San Francisco’s City Attorney, Dennis Herrera, states that the cuts would remove essential support for local programs and healthcare, and must be opposed.

“The president’s executive order is not only unconstitutional, it’s un-American, that is why we must stand up and oppose it. We are a nation of immigrants and a land of laws.’’

San Francisco has also joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in its lawsuit against the president due to the order on sanctuary cities as well as the ban on Muslim immigrants entering the country. The director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, Omar Jadwat, describes the blocking as unjust

“President Trump’s war on equality is already taking a terrible human toll. This ban cannot be allowed to continue.”

While many threatened cities follow suit, and prepare to fight, President Trump will defend his order through use of lawsuits, as the Attorney General will be able to sue the cities refusing to comply, and the removal of grant money from the DHS and the DoJ, which is used to hire officers, support prosecutions, and assist victims of crime.

Who will win this battle is still largely undetermined, and is sure to cause an even greater rift between the armies.