Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry joined West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in filing a brief urging a federal appeals court to overturn a lower court ruling and enforce President Trump’s executive order regarding sanctuary cities.

The brief, signed by 11 attorneys general, argues that the establishment of sanctuary cities would undermine the president’s immigration enforcement authority, which is given to the president and Congress through the U.S. Constitution. A lower court ruled against the president, prompting attorneys general to file this brief to the federal appeals court.

“Sanctuary cities undermine the rule of law and rob our law enforcement officers of the tools they need to effectively protect our communities,” Landry said. “We have seen too many crimes occur against our own state’s citizens due to sanctuary city policies; which is why I have been actively fighting back against these policies since taking office.”

President Trump’s executive order directs U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to ensure sanctuary cities do not receive grant dollars from specific federal programs. The order encourages states to comply with existing federal law that promotes voluntary cooperation between federal and state officials.

Earlier this year, Attorneys General Landry and Morrisey led a multi-state coalition in defending President Trump’s executive order directing the federal government to ensure municipalities comply with laws prohibiting sanctuary cities.

“As I have said before, the president and Congress are given the power to enforce the president’s executive order while still being considerate of states rights,” Landry said. “This issue is a common sense issue, aimed strictly at protecting our citizens.”

Joining Louisiana and West Virginia in the brief are attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.