A judge has ruled that the Trump administration cannot deny funding to Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and 30 other cities and counties because of policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration efforts. US District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco late Friday extended a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from cutting off or conditioning the use of federal funds for so-called 'sanctuary' jurisdictions.

His earlier order protected more than a dozen other cities and counties, including San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. The Trump administration has ratcheted up pressure on those communities as it seeks to make good on President Donald Trump's campaign promise to remove millions of people in the country illegally. One executive order issued by Trump directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to withhold federal money from sanctuary jurisdictions.

Another order directs every federal agency to ensure that payments to state and local governments do not 'abet so-called sanctuary' policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.' The cities and counties that sued said billions of dollars were at risk. An email to the White House late Friday was not immediately returned.