The Trump administration has taken California’s migrant sanctuary law to the Supreme Court, asking it to strike down statutes which prohibit state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, according to the Daily Caller.
Ironically, according to the Caller‘s Kevin Daley, the dispute over the California Values Act (SB54) is “ideologically scrambled,” as the conservative Trump administration is relying on a liberal Supreme Court precedent to argue for expansive federal power, while liberal California is using the principles of federalism to defend its law.
The Trump administration is relying on a liberal Supreme Court decision to make its case, in keeping with the ideological role-reversals that permeate the dispute. In Arizona v. U.S., a left-leaning five-justice majority invalidated much of an Arizona law that involved state officials with immigration enforcement. Arizona said its law merely supplemented federal immigration rules. The high court struck much of it down anyway, saying federal immigration rules take precedence over — or “preempt” — state ones. –Daily Caller
“The federal government has plenary and exclusive power over immigration, naturalization and deportation,” reads the government’s petition. “The supremacy of the national power in this area is made clear by the Constitution, was pointed out by the authors of The Federalist in 1787, and has been given continuous recognition by this Court.”
In April, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law using a states rights doctrine. Under the 10th Amendment anti-commandeering rule, the federal government can’t force states to enforce federal policies – which is exactly what SB54 prevents. – READ MORE