20 States file two separate lawsuits on Trump administration to protect billions in federal funds
On May 13, a Democratic coalition comprised of 20 U.S. State Attorneys General filed 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 transportation infrastructure.
The coalition filed one lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Maryland co-led 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 commit their personnel and resources to federal immigration enforcement efforts—regardless of the states’ own laws and policies governing state agencies—or lose out on billions of federal dollars that states use to protect public safety and transportation infrastructure.
One of the Attorneys General belonging to the coalition is Maryland AG Anthony G. Brown, who said: “Our message on these lawsuits is straightforward: Maryland law, as passed by the General Assembly in 2021, clearly recognizes the federal government’s primary role in immigration enforcement while setting limits on state and local cooperation. The Attorney General joined this action because the federal government is attempting to force Maryland to act against its own laws.”
“The Trump administration’s threat to unlawfully withhold billions in federal funding would be catastrophic to the safety of every Marylander. By forcing states to divert limited resources from protecting local communities, we stand to compromise the significant progress we have made on public safety over the last several years—including some of the most impressive crime drops in the entire country,” said Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
“The bottom line is this: threatening our security and transportation funding creates unnecessary risks, makes us less able to respond to disasters, and makes us less safe. I commend Attorney General Brown and the multi-state coalition of attorneys general in filing these lawsuits. Maryland will continue to defend the people of our state against any threat and will uphold the Constitution, as is our solemn obligation.”
The coalition filing the two lawsuits explained that Congress has established dozens of federal funding 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, the coalition emphasized that immigration enforcement is the federal government’s responsibility, not the states’. The coalition further explains the conditions are unlawful because Congress appropriated the billions of federal dollars at issue to help states prepare for, protect against, respond to and recover from catastrophic disasters. The safety and wellbeing 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, Maryland alone received more than $42 million in federal funding from FEMA. Attorney General Brown and the attorneys general note that Maryland and other states have enacted legislation limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, including two laws passed by Maryland’s General Assembly in 2021.
In their lawsuit against the DOT, Attorney General Brown 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 similarly beyond the agency’s legal authority and improperly shifts federal responsibility onto states. 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. Annually, Maryland receives more than $1 billion in federal assistance for all modes of its transportation infrastructure, covering highways, airports, railroads, and metropolitan transportation.
The U.S. States comprising the coalition that filed yesterday’s two lawsuits are from the great States of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, and Vermont.
For more on the 20 top state prosecutors suing the Trump administration yesterday, see the video accompanying this article.
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(Source: Office of the Maryland Attorney General)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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