A newly approved policy in Tucson allows the city’s attorney to file suit against policies enacted by the federal government more quickly.
Tucson’s mayor and City Council approved a plan this week that will allow the city attorney to file lawsuits on behalf of the city, without first having to get the item before the council.
Tucson filed an amicus brief challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to do away with birthright citizenship but has so far not filed any lawsuits against the new administration.
Officials say the new policy will streamline what can be a lengthy process the city goes through before taking legal action. And it came just before U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office issued a memo that calls for blocking federal grants from reaching so-called sanctuary cities that go against immigration crackdowns.
Naureen Shah, deputy director of government affairs, equality division at the ACLU, told reporters Thursday what exactly that means is still in question.
“DOJ has been putting forward this false notion that it can prosecute state and local officials for failing to carry out immigration enforcement,” she said. “What’s clear though is that the 10th Amendment prohibits the federal government from commandeering states or cities or towns, and the federal government can’t compel a state to enact or administer a federal program, including federal immigration enforcement.”
Shah says similar legal questions arose during the first Trump administration.
Another Department of Justice memo out this week says local or state officials who are “resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests,” are breaking federal law and says Department of Justice bodies will be charged with investigating “incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution.”
