White House blasts federal judge for blocking Trump's executive order on sanctuary cities

Protesters held up signs outside the courthouse on April 14, 2017, in San Francisco.[Photo: AP]

The White House on Wednesday blasted a federal judge for blocking an executive action ordering cities to comply with federal immigration regulations.

"The rule of law suffered another blow, as an unelected judge unilaterally rewrote immigration policy for our nation," the statement said.

The statement said, according to U.S. federal code, "a federal, state or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regrading the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual."

The federal judge, who blocked the executive order Tuesday, "has ignored federal immigration law to set a new immigration policy for the entire country," the statement said.

The White House said it will "pursue all legal remedies to the sanctuary city threat that imperils our citizens, and continue our efforts to ramp up enforcement to remove the criminal and gang element from our country."

Judge William Orrick III of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump cannot coerce "sanctuary cities" to cooperate with immigration officers by withdrawing federal funds.

The executive order, issued five days after the president took office, was the third of the kind blocked by different judges in the U.S. federal court system.