A coalition of 24 U.S. states and the District of Columbia has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to condition disaster preparedness and recovery funding on compliance with federal immigration, law enforcement and election-related requirements.
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The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Rhode Island, challenges conditions imposed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on grants that support disaster preparedness, response and recovery.
The plaintiffs argue that the administration is unlawfully requiring state and local governments to adopt federal immigration enforcement measures, cooperate with federal agencies and comply with new election administration requirements to qualify for congressionally approved disaster funding. They contend that attaching those conditions to the grants is both illegal and unconstitutional.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the lawsuit alongside Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, said the administration had already failed in similar legal disputes.
“The Administration has already lost similar battles in court, and we expect this latest illegal attempt to fail as well,” Bonta said, adding that communities “deserve better than seeing their essential resources caught up in political games.”
Bonta said the White House had previously attempted to restrict access to the same funding programs, but state attorneys general had successfully blocked two earlier efforts.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha accused the federal government of using public safety as leverage to pressure states into adopting policies that do not benefit their residents.
Neronha said than once again, the Trump administration is threatening public safety by illegally withholding billions of dollars in critical funding, and once again, they will not get away with it.
California Governor Gavin Newsom also criticized the funding conditions, saying the president cannot coerce the state into changing its election laws.
The coalition includes Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, joining California, Illinois, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia in the legal challenge to the administration’s policy of conditioning federal disaster assistance.
Source: teleSUR English
