Donald Trump can no longer pick on Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on the matter of her enforcement o the City of Oakland’s “sanctuary city” policy. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled 2 to 1 in “City and County of San Francisco and County of Santa Clara vs Donald Trump”, for the plaintiff, and chalenging Executive Order 13,768, “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States,” which, according to the court’s document “directed the withholding of federal grants to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions,” so the court voted to “vacated a nationwide injunction,” imposed by Trump.
President Trump’s executive order allowed the executive branch to refuse to disperse federal grants “except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes by the Attorney General or the Secretary.” The court, with Judge Sidney Thomas writing the opinion, observed that the Separation of Powers and the Spending Clause in the U.S. Constitution, the Excutive Branch could not withhold federal funds that were approved by Congress – in other words, only an act of Congress could block federal funds to cities like Oakland. The court wrote “Aside from the
power of veto, the President is without authority to thwart congressional will by canceling appropriations passed by Congress. Simply put, “the President does not have unilateral authority to refuse to spend the funds.””
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Was Made Focus Of Trump’s Anti-Immigration Rhetoric, Action
On Tuesday night February 27th, 2018 and after finishing a capture of more than 150 people who were suspected of being undocumented immigrants, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said more could have been arrested except (they claimed) Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf tipped off would be targets. Mayor Schaaf, already under fire by the Oakland City Council, and in particular At-Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan (and for what Kaplan claimed was an Oakland Police Department (OPD) working with ICE when the official Oakland policy called for OPD not to), was determined to send a message that she wanted the Oakand Police to follow city policy and for ICE to stay out of Oakland, when she took to the media to tip off the San Francisco Bay Area that the ICE raids were coming. ICE Deputy Director Thomas D. Homan called Libby’s actions “irresponsible.”
Trump calls Oakland Mayor Schaaf a 'disgrace,' she wishes him a 'Happy International Women’s Day' https://t.co/kHfkVpsVk0
— Daily Kos (@dailykos) March 9, 2018
In a statement, Holman said “Sanctuary jurisdictions like San Francisco and Oakland shield dangerous criminal aliens from federal law enforcement at the expense of public safety. The Oakland mayor’s decision to publicize her suspicions about ICE operations further increased (problems) for my officers and alerted criminal aliens – making clear that this reckless decision was based on her political agenda with the very federal laws that ICE is sworn to uphold.”
Rather than saying “Opps, I’m sorry,” Mayor Schaaf elected to publicly declare war on Donald Trump’s immigration policy, and say she was part of the resistance. Mayor Schaaf told the Washington Post “I consider myself a law-abiding citizen. I consider myself a believer in an American democracy that moves towards a more just society. And I definitely consider myself part of the resistance.”
Once word of the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision reached Mayor Schaaf, she issued this statement: “Once again, the courts have intervened to stop President Trump’s overreach. Oakland, and all sanctuary cities, have a constitutional right to exist free from punishment by the federal government. Sanctuary cities are safer cities.”
The decision was is a massive defeat for the Trump Administration, and neither Donald Trump or The White House has issued any kind of statement via press release or Twitter. But former GOP Congressman, now Fox News pundit Newt Gingrich had this to say on Twitter “The Democrats continue to push open borders and open migration, despite the fact that 84% of the country agrees that sanctuary cities increase the cost of crime.”
The Democrats continue to push open borders and open migration, despite the fact that 84% of the country agrees that sanctuary cities increase the cost of crime. https://t.co/MoEZ6o0vsE pic.twitter.com/WFaDJsyp7f
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) July 31, 2018
The victory is also a win for Schaaf from the perspective of her bid for re-election as Mayor of Oakland. She looked at Trump, stood toe-to-toe against him on a national stage, and came out the victor in the end.
Stay tuned.