Klukowski: Constitutional ‘Tug of War’ Between U.S. Government and Sanctuary Cities

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Breitbart News Senior Legal Editor Ken Klukowski joined SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Tuesday’s Breitbart News Daily, discussing lawsuits by Chicago and other Democrat-led government’s against the Trump administration’s efforts to stop sanctuary cities, which are cities that harbor illegal aliens and violate federal immigration laws.

President Trump signed Executive Order 13768 on January 25, announcing a policy of discontinuing federal funds to sanctuary cities, except for any funds that are required by federal law. In recent weeks, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken actions to implement the president’s executive order.

Political opponents who support amnesty for illegal aliens are taking legal action against Executive Order 13768 and the Justice Department’s implementation. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel filed suit in federal court this week, and California is promising to file its own lawsuit soon.

“This tug of war between the federal government and the states over illegal aliens raises serious issues about the Constitution’s system of federal that will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court,” Klukowski told Marlow.

Klukowski explained that these lawsuits raise several claims under federal law and the U.S. Constitution. Rather than having its own city attorneys argue the lawsuit, Chicago has retained a major law firm, hiring a high-powered legal team of lawyers who formerly held top positions in the Clinton Justice Department or Obama Justice Department.

Two of the lawsuit’s issues arise under the Tenth Amendment, Klukowski continued. Chicago’s lawyers are arguing that the Trump administration is unconstitutionally commandeering state and local officials to carry out federal law. The city also argues that the amount of money the federal government is seeking to withhold from Chicago exceeds Congress’ power under the Constitution’s Spending Clause, thereby violating state sovereignty secured by the Tenth Amendment.

Klukowski expects one of these legal challenges to go the Supreme Court, likely in 2019.

Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern.

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