MIAMI (AP) — A judge has declared unconstitutional a recently-adopted policy favored by President Donald Trump that allows Miami-Dade County jails to hold immigrants who face deportation.
Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch said in his ruling Friday that the policy violates the 10th Amendment’s limits on federal power over states. The county quickly appealed and the scope of Hirsch’s decision was not immediately clear.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered the policy after Trump issued an executive order threatening to withhold federal money from local governments considered “sanctuary cities” for immigrants. Previously, the county would not detain immigrants facing deportation by federal authorities.
The ruling came in the case of a Haitian man who challenged the policy when he was held following a series of felony arrests.
County officials say immigration is a federal matter.
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