Salinas city attorney weighs in on lawsuit against Trump Administration

The city of Salinas is continuing the process of suing the Trump Administration over funding for sanctuary cities.

The city attorney told KION the next step is to work on a complaint to file in federal court.

“We anticipate having that done over the next few weeks so probably we will have something on file in the beginning of April,” said city attorney Chris Callihan.

Callihan said he doesn’t know exactly how much defending the lawsuit will cost the city, but he said his team of lawyers will do the work.

“There will be no cost beyond what we’re already budgeted for in terms of my department budget.”

However, Salinas resident Ismael de Leon said he doesn’t think a lawsuit is enough.

“I think that they should walk the talk and actually become a sanctuary city if that’s what they really want to do. If they really want to sue Trump, they should be an example and be a sanctuary city like other communities,” said Ismael de Leon.

The city said even though Salinas is not officially a sanctuary city, it does act as one which does put their federal funding at risk.

“So we don’t support ice and their efforts when they come into town, we don’t even know when they’re coming into town for the most part, and we don’t participate in their activities. Salinas is a sanctuary city and I think that’s something folks need to understand,” said Callihan.

Callihan also said the city gets about ten million dollars a year from the federal government and all of that goes towards needs like low-income housing, the police department and helping to pay firefighters.

The city said it is willing to fight to make sure it doesn’t lose the funds.