'Broad to the point of absurdity': Judge chides Trump for attempting to 'swallow' states

A federal judge slammed the Trump administration on Tuesday for attempting to apply its immigration powers too broadly.

Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, in the Northern District of Illinois, was asked to determine whether federal immigration laws supersede Illinois' state labor laws. The Trump administration argued that federal law ought to supersede the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act, which would allow it to continue conducting immigration raids at workplaces in the state.

Coleman noted that the Trump administration's lawyers relied on a reading of the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) that she found was too broad.

"Because the provisions of the Privacy Act challenged by the federal government are not expressly preempted by IRCA and do not intrude upon the federal government’s constitutional powers in the space of immigration and foreign affairs, and because the federal government’s broad interpretation of its power to regulate matters of immigration wouldswallow the historic powers of the states over employment-related issues, the Court grants the State’smotion to dismiss and denies the federal government’s motion for a preliminary injunction," Coleman wrote in her opinion.

Coleman also accused Trump administration lawyers of asking the court to ignore the context of cases the government cited as precedent for their argument.

"This interpretation of IRCA’s preemption clause is broad to the point of absurdity," Coleman's opinion reads in part.

Read the entire opinion by clicking here.