Becerra Files Brief In Sanctuary City Case

UPDATE Oct. 20: The California and Illinois attorneys general hope to weigh in on a sanctuary city case involving the Justice Department and the city of Chicago. The two states say $35 million in grant money is at stake.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department tried to withhold grant funding from cities that do not assist immigration officers.

The conditions of one grant would allow immigration agents access to jails and notification of the release of undocumented inmates.

The city of Chicago persuaded a judge to issue an injunction to block that.

But, the Justice Department has filed a motion to stay that injunction.

A brief filed in San Francisco yesterday says a stay of a judge's injunction would harm the public interest and would injure other parties.

The brief further claims the federal government would not be irreparably harmed if the stay is denied and that the feds are unlikely to win a court case should it go to trial.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra will file another lawsuit Thursday against President Donald Trump.

He declined to say what the suit is about.

Becerra told Capitol Public Radio about the pending suit after he spoke to a convention of probation officers that is being held in downtown Sacramento.

When asked about the lawsuits and how they relate to Becerra's vision of crime reduction, he said:

"We are trying to be state where everyone participates," Becerra said. "We don't believe in giving up on people."

He told convention goers:

"It's time to restore justice to young men, mostly young men of color who could really be part of (California's) economic engine. We're moving forward in California. I've essentially told that to our president...through the lawsuits I've filed against him."

Earlier, California requested an emergency injunction that would allow key federal payments under the Affordable Care Act to continue, after President Trump issued an executive order to cancel them last week. A San Francisco federal judge is expected to rule on the injunction request Thursday afternoon.