Portland Will Join Other Sanctuary Cities in Lawsuit Against Trump Administration

The city of Portland is joining other sanctuary cities a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s threat to withhold federal funding from such cities.

The lawsuit will be filed today in the United States District Court of Northern California and is led by the city and county of San Francisco and Santa Clara County.

The lawsuit takes aim most notably at executive order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which threatens sweeping penalties and restrictions on sanctuary cities that don’t comply with Trump’s immigration and deportation aims.

“As a sanctuary city, we are focused on making Portland a safe, welcoming place for all community members,” Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement. “We object to the federal government attempting to defund public safety, infrastructure and other critical services in our city. Portland is obligated to uphold both state laws and our values, and we are prepared to make that case in court.”

In the first week of his second presidential term, Trump threatened criminal charges and withholding of federal funding for sanctuary cities if they don’t cooperate with mass deportation efforts. In late January, his administration signed an order that says it could opt to withhold federal funding entirely from any sanctuary city.

Portland is a sanctuary city, a label Mayor Wilson affirmed in a lengthy statement shortly after Trump’s order.

Wilson authorized the decision to join the lawsuit, a move that was supported by members of the City Council. The state of Oregon and the city of Portland sued the Trump administration during his first term in 2018 over similar threats to sanctuary cities. The courts sided with the city and state, ruling it was unlawful for the feds to withhold federal funding from them based on the statutes that make Portland a sanctuary city.

Other jurisdictions that plan to join the new lawsuit as plaintiffs include New Haven, Conn., and King County, Wash.

The city of San Francisco sued the Trump administration in 2017 over a similar order that threatened to withhold federal funding for sanctuary cities. The matter was stuck in the courts but became a moot point when former President Joe Biden took office and revoked the order.

Trump has already begun singling out sanctuary cities. Yesterday his administration sued the city of Chicago over its sanctuary laws.