Trump’s immigration orders hit with new legal challenges as two cities prosecute US govt

Legal encounters to President Donald Trump’s first moves to restrict the flow of people into the United States spread on Tuesday as Massachusetts and San Francisco sued to challenge two of his early executive orders.

San Francisco became the first US city to sue to challenge a Trump directive to withhold federal money from US cities that have adopted sanctuary policies toward undocumented immigrants.

Massachusetts also joined the legal fight against Trump’s order banning travel into the United States by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.

The legal manoeuvres were the latest acts of defiance against executive orders signed by Trump last week that sparked a wave of protests in major US cities, where thousands of people decried the new president’s actions as discriminatory.

Both the Massachusetts and San Francisco actions contend that Trump’s orders in question violate the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution.