Attorney General Kwame Raoul, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, as part of a coalition of 20 attorneys general, announced today they will file two separate lawsuits against the Trump administration for attempting to illegally coerce their states into sweeping immigration enforcement by threatening to withhold billions in federal funding for emergency services and infrastructure.
Raoul and the coalition will file a lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Raoul, Bonta, Platkin, Neronha and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, along with the coalition, will file a second lawsuit against the Department of Transportation (DOT) and DOT Secretary Sean Duffy. Each agency has imposed sweeping new conditions that would require the states and state agencies to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts or lose out on billions of federal dollars that states use to protect public safety and transportation infrastructure.
“The funding states receive from FEMA and the Department of Transportation are, quite literally, lifesaving. States rely on billions of dollars appropriated by Congress to help our residents recover from natural disasters and emergencies, and to keep them safe as they travel our roads, railways and the skies,” Raoul said. “This critical funding has nothing to do with immigration, and the administration’s attempts to hold it hostage unless states agree to do the federal government’s job of civil immigration enforcement is unconstitutional and outrageous. I am proud of the continued collaboration between state attorneys general and am committed to using all tools at our disposal to fight the Trump administration’s ongoing attempts to play politics with Americans’ lives.”
Raoul and the attorneys general explain that Congress has established dozens of federal grant programs administered by FEMA and the DOT. The money Congress appropriated to those programs funds projects that range from disaster relief and flood mitigation to railroad, bridge and airport construction.
In February, Secretary Noem directed DHS and its sub-agencies, including FEMA, to cease federal funding to jurisdictions that do not assist the federal government in the enforcement of federal immigration law. In March, DHS amended the terms and conditions it places on federal funds to require recipients to certify that they will assist in enforcing federal immigration law.
Soon after Noem’s decision, DOT Secretary Duffy issued a letter to grant recipients informing them of his intent to require all state and local governments to assist in federal immigration enforcement as a condition of obtaining DOT funds. Those funds include grants for highway construction, public transportation maintenance, and competitive funds for airport and railway improvement.
In recent weeks, state grant applicants have seen similar immigration-enforcement language added to the terms and conditions governing grants administered by the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration.
In their lawsuit against FEMA, Raoul and the coalition point out that the immigration conditions exceed FEMA’s legal authority. The coalition further explains the conditions are unconstitutional because Congress appropriated the billions of federal dollars to help states prepare for, protect against, respond to and recover from catastrophic disasters. The safety and well-being of Americans could be at risk if states are forced to forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in federal emergency preparedness and response funds. Last year, Illinois alone received more than $122 million in federal funding from FEMA. Raoul and the attorneys general emphasize these conditions will also damage the carefully built trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities that is critical to promoting public safety.
In their lawsuit against the DOT, Raoul and the coalition point out that imposing an immigration-enforcement condition on all federal transportation funds, which Congress appropriated to support critical infrastructure projects, is beyond the agency’s legal authority. The coalition states rely upon DOT money to fund highway development and airport safety projects, to prevent injuries and fatalities from traffic accidents, and to protect against train collisions. Last year, Illinois was awarded more than $2 billion in DOT grant money, which is used to maintain the National Highway System, state and local roads and bridges, bike paths, transit facilities, public ports, and airports. Raoul and the attorneys general contend that withholding the federal funding will damage public infrastructure across the county and will undermine public trust and cooperation in criminal investigations.
Joining Attorney Generals Raoul, Bonta, Platkin and Neronha in filing the lawsuits are attorneys general from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Vermont.
