Trump To Cut Off Federal Funding Unless CA Adopts His Immigration Policies By Feb. 1

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that, starting next month, he is cutting off federal funding to California and other states and local cities that resist his immigration policies.

Trump made the highly controversial proclamation during his address at the Detroit Economic Club. DEC is touted as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.

“Starting February 1, we are not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities ...," Trump told the DEC audience.

The president added, without evidence, that so-called sanctuary jurisdictions "do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens."

Trump did not offer any details about his plan. Back in Washington, he told reporters that the affected funding will be "significant."

The Department of Justice has identified 11 states and dozens of local cities and counties as "sanctuary" jurisdictions. California, the counties of San Diego and San Francisco, and the cities of Berkeley, Los Angeles, and San Francisco are on the list, which the DOJ last updated on Oct. 31.

According to the federal law enforcement agency, the list is being "reviewed regularly."

According to an August report from the California Budget & Policy Center, federal funds drive one-third of the Golden State budget. The enacted state budget for 2025-26 includes almost $175 billion in federal funds, about 35.2% of the total state budget, according to the CBPC.

Of that federal funding total, most of it (about $136.6 billion) is budgeted for the state's health and human services programs. About $8.7 billion is budgeted for labor and workforce development, $8.1 billion for K-12 education, $7.3 billion for higher education, $6.8 billion for transportation, and $7 billion for other priorities, including environmental protection, natural resources, and government operations.

Conversely, between federal fiscal years 2015 and 2023, Californians paid more in federal taxes than the state received in federal spending in six of the nine years (the COVID payouts made 2020, 2021, and 2023 the exceptions), according to CBPC, a nonpartisan research and analysis nonprofit.

Trump has repeatedly tried to withhold federal funding from Democrat-run states, and he continually tests how far he can go.

In executive orders last year, the president directed federal officials to withhold money from sanctuary jurisdictions that seek to shield immigrants from deportation. A California-based federal judge struck it down. During Trump’s first term in office, in 2017, courts struck down his effort to cut funding to the cities.

Late last week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the state secured a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump Administration’s attempt to freeze $10 billion in federal funding to five Democratic-led states, including an estimated $5 billion for California. The funding included benefits for millions of children, families, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.

In October, the president tried to cancel nearly $8 billion in funding for states that voted for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. A judge ruled against Trump.

Trump's rhetoric on Tuesday comes amid concerns that arrests and aggressive tactics by ICE and the Border Patrol are intensifying frustrations and fears nationally. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that multiple senior federal prosecutors in Washington and Minneapolis are leaving their jobs due to the turmoil over the administration's handling of the shooting death of 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Good, who was a U.S. citizen.

The walkout of federal prosecutors was preempted by national protests over the weekend, where millions turned out on U.S. streets to condemn the shooting and the Trump administration.

In response to the Trump administration's immigration policies, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said via social media, "A President deploying his private police force against Americans should terrify anyone who believes in the Constitution."