Last week, federal appeals courts in Pennsylvania, Illinois and California handed the Trump Administration a series of stinging defeats in their attempts to punish sanctuary cities. The Trump Administration had attempted to tie federal grants to local police cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. In separate cases, the three appellate courts ruled that the feds telling local governments what to do with their police violates the 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The 10th amendment grants rights not given to the federal government to the states, implying that state legislatures might be able to command cooperation where the federal government cannot. In Wisconsin, a state bill that would have done just that, SB 275, failed in the closing session of the Wisconsin Senate.
So, where do sanctuary cities stand? Joining Eight O’Clock Buzz host Brian Standing in the studio is UW History Doctoral student Sergio Gonzalez.