FILE – In this April 1, 2020, file photo, Attorney General William Barr speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal appeals court in Chicago says the Trump administration policy of threatening to withhold grant money from so-called sanctuary cities to force them to comply with its more stringent immigration policies violates separation-of-powers provisions.

Thursday’s ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also says a freeze of that policy should extend nationwide. The ruling says broad executive-branch powers on immigration matters don’t include withholding money allotted by the legislative branch.

One of the three judges on the panel concurred with the bulk of the ruling. But he said in a separate opinion he disagreed with the application of a nationwide injunction.