An Obama-appointed federal judge in California who issued a ruling blocking the Trump administration from cutting funding to sanctuary cities has deep financial ties to the Democratic Party, records indicate.
The judge has also spoken at events in support of former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama and held leadership roles on committees to elect Obama and John Kerry.
Judge William Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a ruling on Thursday that said President Donald Trump’s executive orders against sanctuary cities are unconstitutional.
Orrick said that Trump’s orders instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities and counties that do not cooperate with federal immigration law would violate the Constitution’s separation of powers principles and the Spending Clause, as well as the Fifth and 10th Amendments.
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Judge William Orrick, left, an Obama-appointed federal judge in California who issued a ruling blocking the Trump administration from cutting funding to sanctuary cities, has deep financial ties to the Democratic Party, records indicate. (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California | Getty Images)
The judge said Trump’s orders — titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” and “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders” — are “unconstitutionally vague and violate due process” and “impose coercive condition intended to commandeer local officials into enforcing federal immigration practices and law.”
Orrick wrote that “the threat to withhold funding causes them irreparable injury in the form of budgetary uncertainty, deprivation of constitutional rights, and undermining trust between the Cities and Counties and the communities they serve.”
According to donation records stored in the Federal Election Commission database, Orrick, who was nominated by Obama in 2012, has donated $113,600 to Democratic candidates and committees throughout the years.
Democrats that Orrick has donated to include Obama, Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and Diane Feinstein.
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Sanctuary city supporters stage a protest. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times )
Orrick made two donations to the Obama Victory Fund of $2,300 and $28,500 in 2008. He has also contributed a total of $53,500 to the Democratic National Committee and made a $3,000 donation to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a $2,000 donation to the Iowa Democratic Party.
Besides his financial contributions, a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire further reveals that Orrick served as co-chair of the Bay Area Lawyers to Elect John Kerry 2003-2004 as well as the Bay Area Lawyers to Elect Barack Obama 2006-2008.
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In 2009, he introduced then-California district attorney candidate Harris at a campaign fundraiser in San Francisco.
Orrick has also stumped for Obama and Kerry at several events dating back to 2003.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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