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Federalism

Trump Loses Two More Sanctuary City Cases - And Picks up A Rare Win

The unusual victory arises from a connection to the Contracts Clause.

Ilya Somin | 9.7.2026 5:22 PM

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Last week, the Trump administration lost two more sanctuary city cases, adding to a long list of similar defeats. They did manage to rack up a rare win in this area, one they secured because of an unusual connection to the Contracts Clause of the Constitution. The losses were well-deserved. The win raises some difficult issues, though I think ultimately the administration deserves to lose here, too, and perhaps appellate judges will see things that way.

"Sanctuary" jurisdictions are state and local governments that restrict their law enforcement agencies and other employees from assisting federal immigration enforcement and deportation efforts. Trump has suffered a long string of defeats in his efforts to coerce sanctuary cities and states into giving up their policies, going back to his first term.

In cases where the administration has tried to directly coerce states and localities into cooperating, courts have rightly ruled this violates the Supreme Court's "anti-commandeering" precedents, a series of decisions reached primarily by conservative justices, which hold that the federal government may not force state and local governments to help enforce federal law or carry out under federal purposes. In cases where Trump has sought to withhold federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions, courts have (also rightly) ruled that the executive cannot impose conditions on federal grants that were not authorized by Congress and (in some cases) that the Trump conditions are unconstitutionally coercive. For my analyses of Trump II court decisions on these issues, see here, here, and here.

My 2019 Texas Law Review article surveying and assessing litigation arising from Trump's first-term attacks on sanctuary jurisdictions. There and in other writings, I also explain why immigration sanctuaries (and conservative gun sanctuaries) are beneficial, and help protect our constitutional system. See also my February 2026 Dispatch article, "In Defense of Sanctuary Cities," which provides an overview of these issues, and defends sanctuary jurisdictions on both constitutional and policy grounds.

Last week's Trump defeats were largely in line with these numerous previous precedents. In United States v. New........

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