In his latest Justia blog post, Illinois Law dean and professor Vikram David Amar comments on the lawsuit filed by the Trump administration against California over its so-called sanctuary policies. Amar explains why the federal government is likely to prevail on one claim, to lose on another claim, and to lose in part on the third claim. He writes:
"But even as the lawsuit seeks to attach some legal flesh onto the political bones of the dispute, the litigation also highlights two recurring problems with the debate so far: (1) the term “sanctuary” is too broad, as a legal matter, insofar as it is used as an umbrella to cover many state and local actions that are very different (legally speaking) from one another; and (2) the legal positions advanced by the federal administration and ambitious states like California are both too extreme and doctrinally untenable."
Read the full post.