Last week, a federal judge blocked another one of President Donald Trump's executive orders — this time, one directing the Department of Justice to crack down on so-called "sanctuary cities."
Trump's executive order would have stripped federal funding from cities and municipalities that don't comply with federal immigration policies. Judge William Orrick of San Francisco said that move overstepped Trump's legal authority because only Congress can limit spending in that way.
"Once again they've overreached — and they've lost," said Carol Rose, executive director of ACLU Massachusetts.
"The bottom line is the states have the ability to decide how they want to enforce their laws," Rose continued. "Their job is to serve and protect the local communities, and one of the ways they do that is by building trust in local communities. So if local law enforcement says 'we don't want to become agents of federal ICE agents, we don't want to do their bidding,' the federal government can't punish those cities by taking away money."
But the judge's ruling, so far, is only a temporary injunction. Rose says the fight isn't over yet.
"It's going to be battled out, and it's not over yet because it will probably be appealed," Rose said. "But it's an important injunction."
Click the audio player above to hear the full interview with ACLU executive director Carol Rose.
