SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that his administration will stop federal payments to sanctuary jurisdictions beginning February 1, marking his latest attempt to pressure states, counties and cities with immigrant protections to cooperate with his mass deportation agenda.
San Diego County is among the jurisdictions that could be affected by the threatened funding cuts.
"Starting February 1st, we're not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens," Trump said during remarks in Detroit.
The move follows a familiar pattern from Trump's previous term, when similar efforts were blocked by federal courts. Legal experts say the latest threat faces the same constitutional challenges that derailed earlier attempts.
"The courts over and over again have said you can't do that Congress authorizes spending. It goes to these other purposes. You can't use that to get states to cooperate," said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego.
Trump has repeatedly tried to use federal funding as leverage for immigration enforcement cooperation. In his first term, he attempted similar cuts but was struck down by courts. Last November, a federal judge blocked his effort to withhold billions in federal transportation funds from California and 21 other states. Last week, he was sued and lost after trying to freeze about $10 billion in federal child care assistance from reaching five Democratic-led states.
"But that doesn't mean that he can't cause tremendous change and dislocation in those programs in those funding streams while the courts are waiting to rule on it," Kousser said.
In August 2025, the Department of Justice released a list of 35 states, counties and cities it identified as sanctuary jurisdictions. The list included California and San Diego County.
San Diego County received $1.3 billion in federal funds last fiscal year. The potential loss of federal funding could significantly impact local services and programs.
"The stakes are very high for counties like San Diego, for states like California," Kousser said.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria criticized the threat in a statement, calling it "reckless and illegal."
"These are not abstract dollars — they fund public safety, homelessness services, housing, transportation, and public health services that millions of everyday people rely on," Gloria said. "The Trump Administration has continually lost lawsuit after lawsuit on this issue going all the way back to his first term in office. I fully expect that trend to continue if his administration goes down this path.”
While legal challenges are expected to eventually block the funding cuts, Kousser warned of potential disruption in the meantime.
"There could be a lot of policy change and perhaps personal pain for people who rely on these federal benefits."
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