A federal judge rejected the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to block a city law that limits cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Trump administration sued Boston to secure an injunction against one of the city's ordinances restricting ICE cooperation, the type of law that Trump says belongs to "sanctuary" cities. Federal Judge Leo Sorokin tossed the case on Thursday, ruling that the government has no standing to bring the case.
"The United States has not made a plausible showing that its alleged injuries are redressable by the judicial relief it seeks," Sorokin wrote. "A federal district court is not a roving beacon of justice, free to opine on each question any party presents, no matter how consequential."
According to Sorokin, Massachusetts state law restricts how much local law enforcement can work with ICE anyway.
An injunction "would not liberate the city to empower its officers to take actions state law does not authorize," Sorokin wrote.
"Boston police officers cannot detain a person pursuant solely to a federal civil immigration detainer or administrative warrant," with or without the city ordinance in question, Sorokin noted.