CNN
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A federal judge in Rhode Island blocked the Trump administration from using states’ cooperation with immigration efforts as a condition for receiving transportation funds.
US District Judge John McConnell granted a preliminary injunction to 20 mostly Democratic-led states that filed a lawsuit last month to prevent the Department of Transportation from cutting off billions of dollars in funding if the states refused to comply with federal immigration enforcement.
In his Thursday ruling, McConnell, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama, said, “Congress did not authorize or grant authority to the Secretary of Transportation to impose immigration enforcement conditions on federal dollars specifically appropriated for transportation purposes.”
The ruling is the latest legal setback for President Donald Trump’s administration. Many state attorneys general have sued over issues ranging from the president’s bid to end birthright citizenship to his tariff policies.
The president has used federal funding as leverage amid policy disagreements with different states and organizations. He threatened to withhold funds from California over a transgender athlete’s participation in a sporting event and to cut off $3 billion in federal grant funding for Harvard University over its handling of anti-Israel protests.
In his ruling, McConnell wrote that the immigration-enforcement condition on the funding “is arbitrary and capricious in its scope and lacks specificity in how the States are to cooperate on immigration enforcement in exchange for Congressionally appropriated transportation dollars–grant money that the States rely on to keep their residents safely and efficiently on the road, in the sky, and on the rails.”
CNN has reached out to the Department of Transportation for comment. Earlier this week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote in a social media post that the department “will NOT fund rogue state actors who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.”
The lawsuit was brought by California, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta praised the court’s decision and criticized Trump for using funds “as a bargaining chip.”
“It’s immoral – and more importantly, illegal. I’m glad to see the District Court agrees, blocking the President’s latest attempt to circumvent the Constitution and coerce state and local governments into doing his bidding while we continue to make our case in court,” Bonta said in a statement on Thursday.
