The Trump administration says California has no right to “interfere with enforcement of federal immigration law” and is asking a federal appeals court to reconsider a panel’s ruling upholding the state’s sanctuary law, which limits local law enforcement cooperation with immigration officers.

The administration sued California in March 2018 after the Legislature and then-Gov. Jerry Brown countered President Trump’s immigration crackdown with a package of laws asserting the state’s authority over local policing and limiting federal agents’ access to jails and workplaces.

The most far-reaching law, SB54, prohibits police and sheriffs from notifying federal agencies about an undocumented immigrant’s scheduled release date from jail or from holding immigrants past their scheduled release so immigration agents can take them into custody. It does not apply to inmates charged with serious crimes and does not prohibit local sheriffs from publicly disclosing the release dates of all jail inmates.

A federal judge and a three-judge appeals court panel have upheld SB54, in rulings — both written by appointees of President George W. Bush — that said the federal government cannot require a state to assist in the enforcement of immigration laws. The rulings noted that the state laws were supported by a number of local prosecutors and law enforcement groups on the grounds that they would encourage migrants to report crimes to police rather than shying away for fear of deportation.

The Justice Department has now asked the full appeals court to order a new hearing before an 11-judge panel, an order that would require a majority vote among the court’s 27 current judges.

A rehearing is needed “to correct the panel’s exceptionally important and erroneous holding that the Constitution allows California to enact state laws that obstruct and discriminate against federal immigration enforcement,” the administration’s lawyers said in their latest filing.

The lawyers argued that Congress, when it allowed states to detain and prosecute immigrants who were subject to deportation, “assumed” states would cooperate with federal agents before releasing an immigrant from custody. California “prevents federal officers from obtaining custody through a safe and peaceful transfer,” and requires them instead to “stake out a jail and seek to make a public arrest,” government lawyers said.

Lower courts overturned a provision of another law in the package, AB450, which prohibited private employers from allowing immigration agents to enter private workplaces unless the agents had a warrant from a judge. But they upheld another part of the law requiring employers to notify employees of upcoming federal inspections of their records, a requirement the Trump administration also seeks to overturn.

Just as a state “could not require a financial institution to notify its clients when a financial regulator’s investigation of the institution casts doubts on the clients’ actions,” Justice Department lawyers said, a state should not be allowed to warn employees about immigration inspections.

They also asked the court to invalidate a third law, AB103, which authorizes California’s attorney general to conduct safety inspections of private detention centers that have federal contracts to hold immigrants during deportation proceedings.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko