A federal judge blocked the Trump justice department from withholding grant money from sanctuary cities. The ruling is likely temporary as the law is expected to change, with Congress giving that authority to the DoJ.

The case involved a suit by the city of Chicago who argued they would be "irreparably  harmed" by the denial of funds. A judge agreed that the city had a good case and issued the injunction covering the entire country.

Associated Press:

City officials have said such a ruling would prevent the Justice Department from withholding what are called Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants to the cities based on their refusal to take the steps Sessions ordered.

Chicago has applied for $2.2 million in the federal grant money — $1.5 million for the city and the rest for Cook County and 10 other suburbs. But in a recent court hearing, attorneys representing the city said that more than 30 other jurisdictions across the United States filed court briefs supporting Chicago’s lawsuit and have up to $35 million in grants at stake. At least seven cities and counties, including Seattle and San Francisco, as well as the state of California, are refusing to cooperate with the new federal rules.

Leinenweber’s ruling was not welcomed at the Justice Department.

“By protecting criminals from immigration enforcement, cities and states with ‘so-called’ sanctuary policies make their communities less safe and undermine the rule of law,” spokesman Devin O’Malley said. “The Department of Justice will continue to fully enforce existing law and to defend lawful and reasonable grant conditions that seek to protect communities and law enforcement.”

Though the $1.5 million is just a tiny fraction of the city’s budget, the ruling could be a major victory for a city that has been in a public fight with Sessions. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said the city would not “be blackmailed” into changing its values as a city welcoming of immigrants, and Sessions responded that the Trump administration would not “simply give away grant money to city governments that proudly violate the rule of law and protect criminal aliens at the expense of public safety.”

The city argued that it would suffer “irreparable harm” if it lost the funds that are earmarked to expand the city’s use of “ShotSpotter ” technology to detect when someone fires a gun. And it has made a similar argument if the city were to follow the new requirements. Doing so, Emanuel said Friday, would “drive a wedge of distrust” between the immigrant community and the police force, which needs that community to trust police enough to come forward to report crimes and help officers solve them.

The judge agreed, saying, “The harm to the City’s relationship with the immigrant community if it should accede to the conditions is irreparable,” wrote the judge.

The ruling is another blow to Sessions, a longtime champion of tougher immigration laws. Earlier this month, Sessions announced that the administration would end a program that protects young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families who overstayed their visas. Trump later announced he was working on an agreement to protect them.

Whether or not the ruling means that Leinenweber will ultimately decide in favor of the city is unclear, but he did make clear the city has a good case.

Let's be clear what the city of Chicago and other sanctuary cities are fighting so hard for. The justice department wants to be informed when an illegal alien criminal is about to be released from jail so that ICE agents can interview them to determine immigration status. The cities say that law enforcement cooperation with "immigrant communities" would be drastically affected if they allowed the federal government to enforce the law.

Yes, it really is that simple. Cities like Chicago want to continue to defy immigration law and put their communities at risk because they don't want illegal alien communities and immigraton activists mad at them. You would think that legal immigrants would be up in arms about this policy, but this is not the case. Apparently, being interviewed by ICE agents would hurt their feelings too.

Recently, federal judges have decided to bypass the legislature and make immigration law on their own. They have also assumed executive authority by controlling the budget and deciding  which cities can receive federal funds.

No doubt some of these judges will order up crowns to wear in order to better reflect their exalted position.