A federal judge has granted 20 states a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Transportation from withholding transportation funds over states’ cooperation with immigration law.
Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of U.S. District Court in Rhode Island said in a June 19 filing that, by requiring states to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a condition of receiving congressionally approved transportation funds, USDOT violated several laws.
The ongoing lawsuit pertains to a four-page memo sent April 24 to recipients of USDOT funding, in which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy outlined new legal conditions to continue receiving the funds, including the following:
- Cooperate with federal authorities in the enforcement of federal law, including cooperating with and not impeding ICE.
- Ensure federal financial assistance received from USDOT is provided only to sub-recipients, businesses or service providers that are U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals and lawful permanent residents or legal entities allowed to do business in the U.S. and which do not employ illegal immigrants.
- Not engage in discriminatory actions [related to race, color, national origin, sex or religion] in their own policies, programs and activities, including in administering contracts and employment practices.
On May 13, the attorney generals sued USDOT, saying in their initial filing:
“The funding at issue was authorized by Congress, and Congress imposed no requirement for states to cooperate with immigration enforcement as a condition for receiving funding. Indeed, the statutes and funding at issue – which sustain roads, highways, bridges and other transportation projects – have nothing to do with immigration enforcement. Plaintiff states therefore challenge the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to usurp Congress’s power by imposing an immigration enforcement requirement on billions of dollars in annual ... U.S. DOT funding.”
Judge McConnell outlined the following violations:
- Violated the Administrative Procedures Act by acting outside the department’s statutory authority.
- Implemented an “arbitrary and capricious” immigration enforcement condition on states’ funds that “lacks specificity in how the states are to cooperate on immigration enforcement in exchange for congressionally appropriated transportation dollars”
- Violated the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution through an immigration enforcement condition that is “not at all reasonably related to the transportation funding program grants”
McConnell also stated the 20 suing states would face “irreparable and continuing harm” if the immigration requirements continue.
Duffy reacted to McConnell’s decision in a June 20 post on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “I directed states who want federal DOT money to comply with federal immigration laws. But, no surprise, an Obama-appointed judge has ruled that states can openly defy our federal immigration laws. This is judicial activism pure & simple and I will continue to fight in the courts.”
