--- title: Immigration: Rahm Emanuel Says Chicago to Sue Trump Admin description: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said his city would sue the Trump administration after it threatened to cut off grant funding canonical: https://time.com/4889385/chicago-sues-trump-santuary-cities/ author: Joseph Hincks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-07T09:25:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:53:06.104Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rahm Emanuel: Chicago to Sue Trump Administration og:description: Other cities may soon follow suit og:url: https://time.com/4889385/chicago-sues-trump-santuary-cities/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76129275de227a6b/6988d8a1656a3f6674bd1259/gettyimages-827035674.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Announces Lawsuit Against US Justice Department og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rahm Emanuel: Chicago to Sue Trump Administration twitter:description: Other cities may soon follow suit twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76129275de227a6b/6988d8a1656a3f6674bd1259/gettyimages-827035674.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chicago Is Suing the Trump Administration Over Threats to Withhold Sanctuary City Funding > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=0135e6ba-68f8-46a1-bec3-c01fccab849e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Aug 7, 2017 9:25 AM UTC  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Corporation Counsel Ed Siske on August 6, 2017. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Corporation Counsel Ed Siske on August 6, 2017. Scott Olson—Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Aug 7, 2017 9:25 AM UTC Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Sunday the city would sue the administration of President Donald Trump in the wake of threats to withhold millions of dollars in federal grants from so-called sanctuary cities. Reuters [reports](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-sanctuary-idUSKBN1AM0Q5) that Chicago stands to lose $3.2 million worth of funding as a result of the Justice Department barring cities who do not co-operate with immigration agents — including by allowing them unfettered access to their jails — from receiving Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants. Hundreds of American cities currently benefit from the grants, which provide federal criminal justice funding for equipment and law enforcement training. “Chicago will not let our police officers become political pawns in a debate,” Emanuel said at a news conference, according to Reuters. “Chicago will not let our residents have their fundamental rights isolated and violated. And Chicago will never relinquish our status as a welcoming city.” **Read more:** [_New Justice Department Rules Crack Down on Sanctuary Cities_](http://time.com/4873938/justice-department-sanctuary-cities-jeff-sessions-crackdown/) Emanuel added that the federal lawsuit seeks to prevent the Trump administration from setting a precedent that could be used to target other types of funding. Chicago’s lawsuit is the first of its kind to challenge the Justice Department’s new Byrne program policy, according to Reuters, though other cities may soon follow suit. California Attorney General is reportedly mulling similar legal action. \[[Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-sanctuary-idUSKBN1AM0Q5)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4889385/chicago-sues-trump-santuary-cities/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4889385/chicago-sues-trump-santuary-cities/"},"headline":"Chicago Is Suing the Trump Administration Over Threats to Withhold Sanctuary City Funding","datePublished":"2017-08-07T09:25:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:53:06.104Z","description":"Other cities may soon follow suit","url":"https://time.com/4889385/chicago-sues-trump-santuary-cities/","keywords":["chicago","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76129275de227a6b/6988d8a1656a3f6674bd1259/gettyimages-827035674.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76129275de227a6b/6988d8a1656a3f6674bd1259/gettyimages-827035674.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Announces Lawsuit Against US Justice Department","caption":"Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Announces Lawsuit Against US Justice Department","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/chicago/","name":"chicago"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4889385/chicago-sues-trump-santuary-cities/","name":"Chicago Is Suing the Trump Administration Over Threats to Withhold Sanctuary City Funding"}}]}] ```