MoCo, Salinas support Bay Area lawsuits against immigration order

On Wednesday, Monterey County and Salinas joined a coalition of cities and counties across the nation supporting Santa Clara County’s lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. The action, called an amicus curiae brief, means both will become a “friend of the court,” to show support for the lawsuit. Santa Clara County’s case calls for a nationwide injunction against the immigration order. So far, 34 cities and counties have signed onto the coalition: Albany, NY, Austin, TX, Berkeley, CA, Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, East Palo Alto, CA, Jersey City, NJ, Los Angeles, CA, Menlo Park, CA, Minneapolis, MN, Morgan Hill, CA, New Orleans, LA, Oakland, CA, Portland, OR, Sacramento, CA, Saint Paul, MN, Salt Lake City, UT, Santa Ana, CA, Santa Clara, CA, Santa Fe, NM, Santa Monica, CA, Seattle, WA, Somerville, MA, West Hollywood, CA, Alameda County, CA, Cook County, Illinois, King County, WA, Los Angeles County, CA, Marin County, CA, Monterey County, CA, Municipality of Princeton, NJ, Santa Cruz County, CA, Sonoma County, CA. Santa Clara County’s case will be heard in court on April 5. The city of San Francisco also filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration. Salinas city attorney Chris Callihan said the city also joined the amicus coalition in that case on Wednesday. Monterey County counsel Charles McKee said the county plans to join the San Francisco coalition early next week. San Francisco’s case is scheduled to be in court April 12. In late January, Trump issued an executive order making all undocumented immigrants subject to deportation. It also threatened to withhold federal funding from any government entity that hinders immigration law enforcement. Less than a week after Trump’s order was signed, both San Francisco and Santa Clara County sued the federal government, challenging the constitutionality of the orders. Earlier this month, the Salinas City Council decided to file its own lawsuit against the immigration order. Callihan said even though Salinas is not officially a sanctuary city, it acts like one, which would put federal funding at risk. That lawsuit has not been filed yet.