A federal judge on Thursday blocked Donald Trump’s administration from forcing 20 Democratic-led states to work with immigration enforcement to get billions of dollars in transportation grant funds.
Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell of Providence, Rhode Island, approved the state’s injunction requirement that prohibit the Department of Transportation’s policy, saying states are likely to succeed under the merits of some or all of their claims.
this Trump administration No immediate response to a request for comment.
The ruling is a lawsuit filed by a group of democratic state attorneys generals who argue that the administration is seeking to illegally take federal funders hostages to force them to abide by Trump’s hardline immigration agenda.
States argue that U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy lacks the power to impose immigration conditions on the funds authorized by Congress to help states maintain roads, highways, bridges and other transportation programs.
Since returning to office on Jan. 20, Trump has signed several executive orders calling for the cut off federal funds to so-called shelter jurisdictions that do not cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as his administration has litigated for mass expulsions.
Sanctuary jurisdictions often have laws and policies that restrict or prevent local law enforcement from assisting federal officials in civil immigration arrests.
The Justice Department has filed a series of lawsuits against such jurisdictions, including Illinois, New York and Colorado, expressing challenges to the law in those states led by Democrats, which illustrates federal immigration enforcement.
McConnell, appointed by Barack Obama, filed a lawsuit in Duffy on April 24 that they could lose shipping funds if they do not work with enforcement of federal laws, including efforts to enforce immigration laws, including with ICE.
The states believe that policy is inappropriate and constitutes unconstitutional conditions in the state’s ability to obtain funding authorized by Congress, as it is unclear what exactly will constitute appropriate cooperation.
The government believes that the policy is Duffy’s discretion and should be maintained as there is no misconduct required for states to comply with federal law.
In Rhode Island, the 20 states are also challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s new immigration enforcement conditions imposed by the grant program.
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