Jan 14 (Reuters) – Federal payments will be halted to states over their so-called sanctuary cities on February 1, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday without elaborating on what funds or which states.
Trump reiterated his comment from a day earlier that the federal government would withhold the money starting next month.
“Effective February first, no more payments will be made by the federal government to states for their corrupt criminal protection centers known as sanctuary cities,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
A federal judge in August blocked Trump’s administration from withholding U.S. funding from more than in 30 jurisdictions including Los Angeles, Baltimore, Boston and Chicago that have declined to cooperate with his hardline immigration crackdown following the president’s executive orders a year ago.
The injunction only covers jurisdictions that joined the case, which is still pending. Multiple other lawsuits over funding and sanctuary policies have also been filed.
Representatives for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Nate Raymond and Doina Chiacu; additional reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
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