Via the San Francisco Chronicle:

SAN FRANCISCO -- A state appeals court reinstated a taxpayer lawsuit on Wednesday that accuses San Francisco officials of violating a state law that requires police who make drug arrests to notify federal authorities if a criminal suspect doesn't appear to be a U.S. citizen.

 

A Superior Court judge dismissed the suit last year, saying the California law on which it was based was an invalid attempt by the state to regulate immigration. The First District Court of Appeal disagreed Wednesday and said the law, though it might affect immigration, is based on the state's legal authority to combat drug trafficking.

 

The 3-0 ruling allows opponents of San Francisco's immigration policy to try to prove that the city has broken the state law.