Yeah, the constitution... let's talk about that for a minute.
The feds own immigration policy and enforcement. For a city to declare itself a "sanctuary city" is, basically, a refusal of federal authority. Yeah, previous presidents didn't make an issue out of it. That doesn't make it anything different, though.
And the federal government does have the right to bring in federal troops to protect federal buildings and federal officials.
But of course it's not that simple. That presumes that Trump's actual reason is the stated one, which is not a reasonable assumption. It presumes that all the troops will do is protect federal property and workers, which is unknowable at present.
And it ignores the ruling that Trump bringing troops into LA was illegal. If that was a federal circuit ruling, well, Portland is in the same federal district, so it's current law there. (Does anyone know what the current situation is with that case? Does that ruling stand?)
Look, don't take any of this as an apology for Trump. But he does have the legitimate authority to enforce immigration law. If the troops wind up doing more than protecting the people who are doing that, then he doesn't have the legitimate authority to do that.
A sanctuary city means not having local police cooperate with federal immigration officials. There is no constitutional requirement for local police departments to do so.
The feds own immigration policy and enforcement. For a city to declare itself a "sanctuary city" is, basically, a refusal of federal authority. Yeah, previous presidents didn't make an issue out of it. That doesn't make it anything different, though.
And the federal government does have the right to bring in federal troops to protect federal buildings and federal officials.
But of course it's not that simple. That presumes that Trump's actual reason is the stated one, which is not a reasonable assumption. It presumes that all the troops will do is protect federal property and workers, which is unknowable at present.
And it ignores the ruling that Trump bringing troops into LA was illegal. If that was a federal circuit ruling, well, Portland is in the same federal district, so it's current law there. (Does anyone know what the current situation is with that case? Does that ruling stand?)
Look, don't take any of this as an apology for Trump. But he does have the legitimate authority to enforce immigration law. If the troops wind up doing more than protecting the people who are doing that, then he doesn't have the legitimate authority to do that.