SL City joins brief supporting suit against Trump order on immigration enforcement

SL City joins brief supporting suit against Trump order on immigration enforcement

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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City is one of 34 cities and counties nationwide that signed a "friend of the court" brief Wednesday asking a federal judge to block President Donald Trump's executive order targeting local jurisdictions over immigration enforcement.

The amicus brief gives arguments on behalf of Santa Clara County, California, which sued Trump and other senior administration officials last month in a filing that questioned the constitutionality of the president's order. Trump signed the order in January, calling for efforts to identify which local entities fail to cooperate with federal authorities in locating and deporting undocumented immigrants.

Trump has threatened to remove federal funding that goes to those so-called "sanctuary cities." The administration released a report Monday claiming 206 instances in which immigrants were released from jails despite federal detainer requests, according to The Associated Press.

The brief, signed by Margaret Plane, Salt Lake's city attorney, claims Trump's executive order is unconstitutionally vague, meaning it would lead to enforcement that is discriminatory in nature.

Matthew Rojas, Salt Lake City Mayor's Office spokesman, wrote that the brief also argues the order goes contrary to the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution "by usurping local police power by commandeering scarce city and county resources."

The filing also claims that Trump does not hold the authority to withhold funds that were approved by Congress. Local jurisdictions also lack a mechanism to make needed appeals with regard to the order, the brief says.

“From the moment it was proposed, this executive order has had an unsettling effect on cities because it asks local law enforcement to assume responsibilities which would jeopardize their ability to keep communities safe,” Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said in a statement Wednesday. “Without definition or process, the Trump administration is demanding blind obedience while usurping local control and ignoring the constitution.”

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Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown agreed with Biskupski, saying local police involving themselves in a federal effort such as immigration enforcement would be counterproductive.

“Requiring police to enforce federal immigration law undermines the trust and cooperation with immigrant communities, which is a central element of our department’s community policing model,” said Chief Mike Brown. “It is only when all people feel safe to report crimes to law enforcement that we can truly protect everyone in our community.”

Biskupski and Brown held a press conference in January, one day after Trump signed his order, telling residents that nothing about the city's dealings with immigrants and refugees would change. Brown said at the time that he would continue a longstanding Salt Lake police policy of not questioning the immigration status of residents who are reporting crimes or cooperating with officers.

Cities who signed onto the brief include Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis and Austin, Texas. In all, more than 24 million people live in the jurisdictions listed in the brief, Rojas said.

Santa Clara's lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Northern District of California. Email: blockhart@deseretnews.com Twitter: @benlockhartnews

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