Attorney General Charity Clark, with a coalition of 19 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 of dollars in federal funding nationwide for emergency services and infrastructure.
Attorney General Clark and the coalition filed one lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. A second lawsuit was filed against the Department of Transportation (DOT) and DOT Secretary Sean Duffy. Each federal agency has imposed unconstitutional, sweeping conditions that would require the states and state agencies to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts or lose out on billions of federal dollars used to protect public safety and transportation infrastructure.
“The federal government is responsible for enforcing immigration law, not the states, and Vermont law is clear about how local and state law enforcement agencies may interact with federal immigration officials. Our limited resources focus law enforcement on public safety in our communities,” said Attorney General Clark. “The Trump administration is violating the Constitution, threatening to deny Vermont access to over $12 million in Congressionally approved funding in order to force Vermont to betray its own values and turn its back on its immigrant communities.”
Attorney General Clark and the attorneys general explain in the lawsuits that Congress has established dozens of federal grant programs administered by FEMA and 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 Secretary 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 points out that the immigration conditions exceed FEMA’s legal authority. The coalition further explains the conditions are unconstitutional because Congress has already appropriated billions of federal dollars to help states prepare for, protect against, respond to and recover from catastrophic disasters – without any immigration enforcement strings attached. The safety and well-being 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, Vermont received more than $12 million in federal funding from FEMA for emergency preparedness. Attorney General Clark and the attorneys general emphasize these conditions will also damage the carefully built trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities that is critical to promoting public safety.
In their lawsuit against the DOT, Attorney General Clark and the coalition point out Congress did not authorize the agency to impose any an immigration-enforcement conditions on federal transportation funds, which are often appropriated on the basis of a legislatively specified formula or identified infrastructure needs. 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. On average over the past few years, Vermont has received more than $300 million per year in federal highway funds, which have played a critical role in the State’s ability to build and maintain transportation infrastructure and protect those who use it. Attorney General Clark and the attorneys general contend that withholding the federal funding will damage public infrastructure across the county and will undermine public trust and cooperation in criminal investigations.
Joining Attorney General Clark in filing the lawsuits are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Original source can be found here.