A coalition of 11 Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Sept. 29, accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully slashing more than $233 million in anti-terrorism and emergency preparedness grants from so-called sanctuary jurisdictions.
The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island, follows a Sept. 24 federal court ruling that struck down the administration’s earlier attempt to condition Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. In that case, 20 states and the District of Columbia won summary judgment after U.S. District Judge William E. Smith found the immigration-related funding conditions “arbitrary and capricious” and unconstitutional.
The new complaint alleges that just three days after the court loss, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reallocated Homeland Security Grant Program funds destined for disfavored blue states while boosting awards to favored red states. For example, New York experienced a 79 percent decrease, while Texas registered a 31 percent increase….