Manatt is pleased with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reject the Trump administration’s injunction blocking the enforcement of three California laws aimed at curtailing the federal government’s aggressive campaign against immigration in United States v. California, et al. This appeal challenged: 1) AB 450, which requires employers to alert employees before federal immigration inspections; 2) AB 103, which imposes inspection requirements on facilities that house civil immigration detainees; and 3) SB 54, which limits the cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
A Manatt team including Esra Hudson, Benjamin Shatz and Michael Nordon, and former Manatt counsel Diana Iorlano, filed amicus briefs in both the district court and the Ninth Circuit on behalf of nearly 200 faith organizations and individual clergymen and clergywomen who were impacted by the current administration’s campaign against immigration. The brief at both the district level and Ninth Circuit explained the history of sanctuary as a foundational tenet of all religious faiths, and highlighted the importance of immigrant participation in faith communities, the impact of abusive immigration enforcement on the faith communities, and the faith values that compel religious leaders to “welcome the stranger.”
The anchor organization on this brief was PICO California (an organization consisting of 73 cities, 35 school districts, and 75% of the state’s Senate and Assembly districts), and the Manatt team worked closely with the National Immigrant Law Center through both the district court level and Ninth Circuit.
On April 18, 2019, the Ninth Circuit largely affirmed U.S. District Judge John Mendez’s decision not to grant the Trump Administration an injunction blocking the enforcement of California laws aimed at curtailing the federal government’s aggressive campaign against immigration. The Supreme Court’s decision preserves this Ninth Circuit ruling.
To read Manatt’s district court amicus brief, click here.
To read Manatt’s Ninth Circuit amicus brief, click here.
For more information about the Supreme Court’s decision, read Los Angeles Times’ article on this development here.