President Joe Biden’s administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss three pending appeals stemming from his predecessor’s efforts to block federal grants to cities and states that don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
In joint filings with the court on Thursday, Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar indicated that the new administration had resolved federal litigation with California, New York State, New York City and other so-called sanctuary jurisdictions.
The cities and states sued after former President Donald Trump’s administration threatened to withhold the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, which are often used to buy equipment or pay for police overtime. Byrne, a New York City police officer, was murdered in the line of duty in 1988.
Lower courts were divided on the legality of the Trump policy, and both sides were appealing. The Trump administration had asked the high court to hear a case from California, while New York City and a group of states led by New York were seeking review of a ruling they lost.
The Supreme Court had been deferring action on the appeals while the new administration decided how to handle the cases.The cases are Wilkinson v. San Francisco, 20-666; New York v. Department of Justice, 20-795; and City of New York v. Department of Justice, 20-796.
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