Federal judge scuttles Trump's attempts to block California's sanctuary state laws

A Sacramento-based federal judge has largely rejected the Trump administration's lawsuit to block three sanctuary state laws in California, Politico reports. Specifically, U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez refused the Justice Department's attempt to nullify a law that limits what immigration information local law enforcement can share with the feds, and preserved a law that guarantees California officials information about the jails holding immigration detainees in the state. In a small win for President Trump, Mendez did agree to block one part of a law that banned private employers from voluntarily cooperating with immigration officials and another that banned reverification of employees' work statuses.

Thursday's ruling "doesn't eliminate the possibility that the federal government could prevail in more aspects of the suit in the future," writes Politico, "but it leaves the administration without much of the immediate relief it wanted."

In March, Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed to "fight these unjust, unfair, and unconstitutional policies," while California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) called the suit "a stunt."

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