The Trump administration’s efforts to target “sanctuary cities”
have led to extensive ongoing legal challenges, which raise a variety of
important constitutional and policy issues. They include the extent to which
the executive branch can impose conditions on state and local government
recipients of federal funds, what kinds of spending conditions count as
“coercive” or insufficiently related to the purposes of the grant program they
are attached to, and whether federal laws targeting sanctuary cities violate
Tenth Amendment restrictions on “commandeering.” These cases also involve
notable role reversals by both conservatives and progressives. The latter are
relying heavily on federalism doctrines traditionally championed by the former.
This panel will consider both the specific issues raised by the litigation over
sanctuary cities, and the broader implications for constitutional federalism,
separation of powers, and immigration law.