{"id":516618,"date":"2026-01-14T23:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/516618\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T23:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:49:12","slug":"california-l-a-brace-for-trumps-new-threats-to-cut-funds-over-immigration-stance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/516618\/","title":{"rendered":"California, L.A. brace for Trump’s new threats to cut funds over immigration stance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0State and local officials are once again on the defensive after President Trump renewed threats Wednesday to strike federal dollars from \u201csanctuary\u201d jurisdictions such as California and Los Angeles, which have long opposed cooperation with immigration enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

The ultimatum, laid out in an early morning Truth Social post<\/a>, echoed sweeping statements the president made Tuesday<\/a> at the Detroit Economic Club, putting billions in funding flagged for healthcare, education and transportation at stake.<\/p>\n

\u201cEffective Feb. 1, no more payments will be made by the federal government to states for their corrupt criminal protection centers known as sanctuary cities. All they do is breed crime and violence. If states want them, they will have to pay for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The U.S. government is supplying $175 billion to California this fiscal year \u2014 about a third of the state\u2019s total 2025-26 spending plan, according to state budget records<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice created a list of dozens of state and local governments<\/a> identified as \u201csanctuary\u201d jurisdictions based on policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

Those policies generally do not block federal authorities from carrying out immigration actions, but restrict how local resources can be used.<\/p>\n

California Department of Justice officials were quick to point out that courts have repeatedly sided against the president on this matter, most recently in August<\/a>, when a judge ruled the federal government cannot deny funding to Los Angeles and 30 other cities over policies that limit cooperation on immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

The ruling, by U.S. District Judge William Orrick, extended an earlier injunction that established Trump\u2019s efforts to cut federal funding were probably unconstitutional and violated the separation of powers doctrine.<\/p>\n

But at a December hearing, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel signaled it might overturn the injunction, as judges questioned whether the administration\u2019s latest orders actually require agencies to cut funding in a way that exceeds their authority.<\/p>\n

A final ruling on the appeal is pending.<\/p>\n

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta\u2019s office said in a statement Wednesday that the substance of White House threats wasn\u2019t clear. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile details here are in short supply, we\u2019ll have to take a look at whatever the president actually does,\u201d Bonta said. \u201cWe remain prepared to take action as necessary to protect our state and uphold the law.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bonta has also defeated the administration over its attempts to impose illegal immigration enforcement conditions on transportation, homeland security and Victims of Crime Act funding.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, he announced a multistate challenge<\/a> to Trump\u2019s plans to freeze $10 billion in federal child care and social services funding amid unsubstantiated allegations that the state was \u201cillicitly providing illegal aliens\u201d with benefits.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom took a moment to lean on the state\u2019s winning legal record.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease pray for the president as he struggles with cognitive decline. He already forgot he tried this before \u2014 multiple times \u2014 and we sued him and won,\u201d Newsom said in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Though the White House wouldn\u2019t comment on a specific legal framework or dollar amount for this wave of funding cuts, Spokesperson Abigail Jackson said Wednesday that sanctuary cities are \u201cincredibly dangerous\u201d and put law-abiding Americans at risk.<\/p>\n

She added that the Trump administration is considering \u201ca variety of lawful options\u201d to implement this policy.<\/p>\n

The issue of executive overreach is at the fore for Senate Democrats, too, who are challenging the president over military action in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be clear: Congress\u2014not the White House and not Donald Trump \u2014 holds the power of the purse,\u201d said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).<\/p>\n

Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto confirmed the city would take legal action to protect its access to federal dollars.<\/p>\n

Mayor Karen Bass said she plans to work with partners at every level of government to ensure Angelenos continue to receive government services.<\/p>\n

\u201cHardworking, honest Americans should not have to pay the price for the president\u2019s continued political attack on blue states and cities,\u201d she said in a statement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0State and local officials are once again on the defensive after President Trump renewed threats Wednesday to strike…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":516619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[5672,1582,276,114,230492,2142,1258,230489,2961,224,2444,5337,40287,153,1807,290,230491,522,230490],"class_list":{"0":"post-516618","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-administration","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-cooperation","12":"tag-federal-dollar","13":"tag-federal-government","14":"tag-funding","15":"tag-immigration-enforcement-agency","16":"tag-la","17":"tag-los-angeles","18":"tag-los-angeles-times","19":"tag-losangeles","20":"tag-other-city","21":"tag-policy","22":"tag-president-trump","23":"tag-state","24":"tag-statement-wednesday","25":"tag-transportation","26":"tag-white-house-threat"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115896134146674826","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}