US court declares Trump's executive order unconstitutional
San Francisco, Aug 2: A US court of appeal in San Francisco on Wednesday declared "unconstitutional" an executive order of US President Donald Trump to deny federal funding of sanctuary cities including San Francisco earlier this year.
The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said in a 2-1 decision that Trump had acted unconstitutionally to withhold funding from the "sanctuary cities" that refused to cooperate with federal immigration officials, Xinhua reported.
"Absent congressional authorization, the administration may not redistribute or withhold properly appropriated funds in order to effectuate its own policy goals," Chief Judge Sidney Thomas wrote in a majority opinion.
The United States Constitution exclusively grants the power of the purse to Congress, not the president, he said in the ruling.
The ruling came in lawsuits filed by two California counties, San Francisco and Santa Clara, which had openly voiced their refusal to grant information or cooperation to federal immigrations agents in cracking down on operations against illegal immigrants in California state that declared itself "a sanctuary state."
US District Judge William Orrick issued an injunction in November to block Trump's executive order to cut off funding to sanctuary cities. Both San Francisco and Santa Clara receive more than 1 billion U.S. dollars a year in federal funds.
Trump's administration has filed a lawsuit against California for protecting immigrants in the country illegally.
California passed a statewide sanctuary policy that took effect in 2018, and cities such as San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia have adopted them.
Sanctuary cities have claimed that having local police cooperate with federal immigration forces would scare away people in reporting crime to law-enforcing agencies.
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Death toll from Israeli strikes in northeast Lebanon rises from 8 to 24, Lebanese news agency says
Deir al-Balah, Nov 1: Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 24 people in northeastern Lebanon, the country's news agency said, raising the death toll from eight there.
It was the latest deadly toll in the area since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated last month.
Israel's military has said that its operation in Lebanon is targeting Hezbollah's military infrastructure.
Lebanon's state National news Agency reported four airstrikes in different villages across country's northeast, saying rescuers were still searching for survivors in Younine, a town in the Bekaa Valley, from the rubble of a targeted house.
Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese lawmaker representing the region in Baalbek-Hermel region, said that 60,000 people have already fled their homes in the area due to Israeli bombardment.
