Judge Blocks Funding Cuts
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to divert federal Homeland Security funding from states that refuse to cooperate with certain immigration enforcement policies.
U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy ruled Monday in favor of a coalition of 12 attorneys general. They sued the administration earlier this year after learning that their states would face drastic cuts to federal grants due to their “sanctuary” policies.
Funding Reductions and Context
The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA had reduced more than $233 million for Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. These funds come from a $1 billion program intended to allocate money based on assessed risks, with most of it going to local police and fire departments.
The cuts followed another federal judge’s decision that it is unconstitutional to condition FEMA disaster funding on state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Judge Calls Cuts Arbitrary
In her 48-page ruling, McElroy found that the federal government considered states’ willingness to enforce immigration policy when deciding to reduce funding for the Homeland Security Grant Program and similar initiatives.
“What else could defendants’ decisions to cut funding to specific counterterrorism programs by conspicuous round numbers be, if not arbitrary and capricious?” McElroy wrote. “Neither a law degree nor a degree in mathematics is required to deduce that no rational formula could produce this result.”
The judge ordered DHS to restore the previously announced funding allocations to the plaintiff states.
Importance of the Funding
“Defendants’ abuse of their role in federal grant administration is particularly troubling because they hold a solemn duty: safeguarding our nation and its citizens,” McElroy wrote. “The funding at issue supports vital counterterrorism and law enforcement programs.”
McElroy cited the recent Brown University attack, where a gunman killed two students and injured nine others, as an example of when the $1 billion federal program would prove essential.
“To hold hostage funding for programs like these based solely on political whims is unconscionable and unlawful,” the Rhode Island-based judge added.
DHS Response and Political Reactions
DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded that the department plans to challenge the ruling. “This judicial sabotage threatens the safety of our states, counties, and towns, and weakens the nation,” she said. “We will fight to restore these critical reforms and protect American lives.”
Attorneys general who sued the administration praised the order. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said, “This victory ensures the Trump Administration cannot punish states that refuse to carry out its cruel immigration agenda, particularly by denying them lifesaving funding that helps prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies.”
