Federal Judges Block Trump Administration's Immigration Funding Policy
A U.S. District Judge has issued a ruling preventing the Trump administration from withholding transportation funds from states not complying with immigration enforcement.
Overview
- U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. issued a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration's funding policy affecting 20 states.
- The ruling stops the Transportation Department from requiring states to assist with immigration enforcement to receive transportation funds.
- Twenty states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing the funding threat coerced them into compliance with immigration policies.
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta criticized the administration's actions as coercive, emphasizing the potential loss of billions in federal funding.
- The court found no legal basis for the administration's funding conditions, asserting that Congress did not authorize such measures.
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Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the judge's ruling as a significant check on the Trump administration's immigration policies, emphasizing the legal and ethical implications of withholding funds. They reflect a perspective that supports state autonomy against federal overreach, highlighting the conflict between state and federal authority in immigration enforcement.
"A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from withholding billions of dollars in transportation funds from states that don’t agree to participate in some immigration enforcement actions."
ABC News"The Court finds that the States have demonstrated they will face irreparable and continuing harm if forced to agree to Defendants’ unlawful and unconstitutional immigration conditions imposed in order to receive federal transportation grant funds."
Associated Press"The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by a group of Democratic state attorneys general who argued the administration was seeking to unlawfully hold federal funds hostage to coerce them into adhering to the Republican president’s hardline immigration agenda."
NBC News"The ruling comes ahead of a June 20 grant application deadline for states."
NPR"The policy, McConnell wrote, "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.""
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Center (5)
FAQ
The Trump administration required states to assist with immigration enforcement in order to receive transportation funds, effectively linking federal transportation funding to cooperation with immigration policies.
Twenty states filed the lawsuit, arguing that the Trump administration's threat to withhold transportation funds coerced them into complying with immigration enforcement policies, which they claimed was legally unjustified.
The court found that there was no legal basis for the administration's funding conditions, stating that Congress did not authorize the administration to withhold transportation funds from states based on their immigration enforcement cooperation.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta criticized the administration's actions as coercive, highlighting the potentially massive loss of billions in federal funding for the states involved.
The Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities and jurisdictions that limit immigration enforcement cooperation, set high deportation goals, expanded expedited removal and 287(g) agreements with local law enforcement, and imposed civil and criminal penalties on non-cooperating officials.
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