A federal appeals court gave President Donald Trump a rare legal win in his efforts to crack down on "sanctuary cities" Friday, upholding the Justice Department's decision to give preferential treatment in awarding community policing grants to cities that cooperate with immigration authorities.
The 2-1 opinion overturned a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in Los Angeles. The court said awarding extra points in the application process to cities that cooperate was consistent with the goals of the grant program created by Congress.
"The Department is pleased that the Court recognized the lawful authority of the Administration to provide favorable treatment when awarding discretionary law-enforcement grants to jurisdictions that assist in enforcing federal immigration laws," the Justice Department said in an emailed statement.
Federal courts have blocked some efforts by the administration to withhold money from sanctuary cities, including an executive order issued by the president in 2017 that would have barred them from receiving federal grants "except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes." Courts also barred the Justice Department from imposing new immigration enforcement-related conditions on Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, the biggest source of federal funding to state and local jurisdictions.
The 9th Circuit's ruling Friday concerned a different grant program, Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, grants, which are used to hire more police officers. Previously, the Justice Department has given extra points to cities that agree to hire veterans, or that operate early intervention systems to identify officers with personal issues, or that have suffered school shootings.
In 2017, under then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department for the first time decided extra points would go to cities that listed immigration enforcement as a priority or that certified they would cooperate with federal immigration authorities by allowing them access to detainees in city jails and giving 48 hours' notice before an undocumented immigrant was released from custody.
Los Angeles applied for a grant that year, but declined to list immigration enforcement as a priority — it listed building community trust instead — or to make the certification. It failed to win, and it sued.
The Justice Department had introduced conditions that impermissibly coerced the grant applicants to enforce federal immigration law, the city said. It also said the immigration-related conditions were contrary to the goals for which Congress had approved the grant money: to get more police on the beat, developing trust with the public.
The judges in the majority, Sandra Ikuta and Jay Bybee, both appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, rejected that.
"Cooperation relating to enforcement of federal immigration law is in pursuit of the general welfare, and meets the low bar of being germane to the federal interest in providing the funding to 'address crime and disorder problems, and otherwise ... enhance public safety,'" Ikuta wrote.
Several other jurisdictions did win funding without agreeing to the DOJ's immigration enforcement preferences, she noted.
Judge Kim Wardlaw, appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, dissented, calling the majority's opinion "Orwellian" in the way it tried to equate federal immigration enforcement with enhanced community policing.
"Nothing in the congressional record nor the Act itself remotely mentions immigration or immigration enforcement as a goal," she wrote. "In the quarter-century of the Act's existence, Congress has not once denoted civil immigration enforcement as a proper purpose for COPS grants."
The Los Angeles city attorney's office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Supporters of sanctuary cities say that encouraging local police to participate in federal immigration enforcement is counterproductive: People will be less likely to report crimes if they believe they'll be deported for doing so. But the 9th Circuit's opinion found that to be a question of policy, not law, said David Levine, a professor at University of California Hastings College of the Law.
"What the Justice Department was doing before, they were trying to force sanctuary cities to do things, and yank money from them retroactively if they didn't," Levine said. "They've gotten a little more sophisticated now. They're saying, 'You don't have to take this money, but if you want it, it comes with strings attached.' That's a well understood way the federal government gets states to do things. You don't use a stick, you use a carrot."
NEW YORK (AP) — There they both sat in the second set of their U.S. Open semifinal on a humid afternoon Friday, simultaneously receiving treatment from trainers: Jannik Sinner got his left wrist massaged after falling during a point he managed to win; Jack Draper needed medical attention after vomiting twice.
The top-ranked Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy, who was exonerated in a doping case less than a week before play began in New York, was the better player throughout and finished off a 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over Draper to reach his first title match at Flushing Meadows — and second at a Grand Slam tournament his year.
“It was a very physical match, as we see,” said Sinner, who is a righty but uses both fists for his backhands and kept flexing his left wrist after it got hurt. “I just tried to stay there mentally.”
While both competitors were being looked at during a changeover, a vacuum was being used to clean up the green ground behind the baseline where the 25th-seeded Draper, a 22-year-old from Britain, had thrown up, finishing the cleaning job he tried to do himself by wiping the court with a towel. It hearkened back to when Pete Sampras lost his lunch during a win over Alex Corretja during the 1996 U.S. Open -- and created, to say the least, an unusual scene Friday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the temperature was in the high 70s and the humidity was above 60%.
Sinner won the Australian Open in January and will seek his second major championship on Sunday against No. 12 Taylor Fritz or No. 20 Frances Tiafoe.
“Whoever it is,” Sinner said, “it’s going to be a very tough challenge for me. But I'm just looking forward to it.”
Word emerged last month that Sinner failed two drug tests eight days apart in March but was cleared because he said the trace amounts of an anabolic steroid entered his system unintentionally via a massage from a team member he since has fired. That whole episode has been a constant topic of conversation as he progressed through the U.S. Open bracket.
Good pals Fritz and Tiafoe were scheduled to play each other Friday night in the other men’s semifinal, the first in New York between two Americans in 19 years. One would become the first U.S. man in a Slam title match since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009 — and if either were to defeat Sinner, it would give the United States its first major trophy for a man since Roddick triumphed in New York in 2003.
The women's final on Saturday also will feature an American, with No. 6 Jessica Pegula taking on No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
The longer that points lasted between Sinner and Draper — who are friends and played doubles together at an event in August — the more things went the Italian’s way as the contest stretched past three hours.
He is as pure a ball-striker as there is in the men’s game at the moment, and while Draper’s lefty power and good hands — whether following his serves to the net or simply finding other times to hit volleys, he won 22 of the 34 points when he moved forward — made some inroads, Sinner got better and better the longer exchanges went.
Sinner took the point on 50 of 80 that lasted nine or more strokes.
Draper has plenty of talent, and he hadn’t dropped a set over the past two weeks until Friday, but his biggest issue as a pro has been his body, and it was again on this day. The weather surely didn’t help. Nor did any tension associated with making his debut in a Slam semifinal. Nor did Sinner’s relentlessness.
The collection of empty water bottles kept growing by Draper’s sideline seat as he tried to hydrate. He also requested a can of soda in the third set. By the time it arrived, nothing was going to help him slow Sinner, who improved to 34-2 on hard courts in 2024.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Jannik Sinner, of Italy, reacts after breaking the serve of Jack Draper, of Great Britain, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Court attendant Ethan Davison cleans up an area on the court where Jack Draper, of Great Britain, vomited in the second set against Jannik Sinner, of Italy, during the men's singles semifinal of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Jack Draper, of Great Britain, reacts against Jannik Sinner, of Italy, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Jack Draper, of Great Britain, reacts after missing a shot from Jannik Sinner, of Italy, during the men's singles semifinal of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Fans cheer during the men's singles semifinals between Jannik Sinner, of Italy, and Jack Draper, of Great Britain, of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Jack Draper, of Great Britain, cools off during a break between games against Jannik Sinner, of Italy, during the men's singles semifinal of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Jannik Sinner, of Italy, holds his left wrist after falling on the court in the second set against Jack Draper, of Great Britain, during the men's singles semifinal of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Jack Draper, of Great Britain, cools off during a break between games against Jannik Sinner, of Italy, during the men's singles semifinal of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Jannik Sinner, of Italy, is examined during the men's singles semifinals against Jack Draper, of Great Britain, of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Jack Draper, of Great Britain, wipes the court against Jannik Sinner, of Italy, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Jannik Sinner, of Italy, reacts after defeating Jack Draper, of Great Britain, during the men's singles semifinal of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Jannik Sinner, of Italy, holds his wrist after returning a shot to Jack Draper, of Great Britain, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
