20 states sue Trump admin over immigration enforcement funding threats
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President Trump at the White House on Monday. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
A coalition of 20 Democratic attorneys general is suing President Trump's administration over threats to withhold billions of dollars in federal funding if they don't follow his immigration enforcement polices.
The big picture: California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who's leading the two lawsuits, said at a Tuesday briefing that threats to cut funds for emergency services and infrastructure maintenance represented "a blatantly illegal attempt to bully states" into enacting Trump's agenda.
Driving the news: Trump signed executive orders last month directing federal agencies to document "sanctuary cities" that are not complying with his immigration agenda, and the White House said those that failed to do so "may lose federal funding."
- The conditions would affect state projects including disaster relief, flood mitigation, and railroad, bridge and airport construction, the states argue in the lawsuits that were filed Tuesday.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who's named in one of the suits, pushed back on the state AGs' lawsuit allegations in an emailed statement Wednesday that said no funding has been withheld.
- Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement Wednesday that Trump "has been clear" that cities and states "who break the law and prevent us from arresting criminal illegal aliens should not receive federal funding."
Zoom in: One lawsuit that names Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA and others, argues the Trump administration's conditions on funding are unconstitutional.
- They're also "beyond FEMA's legal authority because Congress appropriated the billions of federal dollars to help states prepare for, protect against, respond to and recover from catastrophic disasters," per a statement from Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, one of the AGs suing the administration.
- The other suit naming Duffy and the Department of Transportation makes a similar argument on the funding of critical infrastructure projects.
- States signed onto the suit include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
What they're saying: "We are experiencing creeping authoritarianism in this country, and as a people we must continue to resist," said Peter Neronha, attorney general of Rhode Island, where the lawsuit was filed, in a statement.
- "Using the safety of Americans as collateral, the Trump Administration is once again illegally subverting the Congress, bullying the states to relinquish their right, ensured by the Constitution, to enact policies and laws that best serve their residents."
The other side: "Americans would all be better off if these Democrat attorneys general focused on prosecuting criminals and working with the Trump administration to address the toll of gangster illegal aliens on their communities instead of playing political games," White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.
- Duffy said in his statement the 20 states were "challenging the terms of their grant agreements because their officials want to continue breaking Federal law and putting the needs of illegal aliens above their own citizens."
- Under Trump's leadership, "what my Department has done is remind grant recipients that by accepting federal funds, they are required to adhere to federal laws," he added.
"No state or local government is above enforcing the immigration rules that keep communities safe. These common-sense values reflect the priorities of the American people, and I took action to ensure compliance."
McLaughlin said in her statement that under Noem's leadership, "DHS is working to end violations of federal immigration law and remove criminal illegal aliens from American communities.
- She added: "Radical sanctuary politicians need to put the safety of the American people first—not criminal illegal aliens. The Trump Administration is committed to restoring the rule of law. No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that."
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
