Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin this week co-led a coalition of attorneys general in filing motions seeking injunctions that would block the Trump Administration’s illegal attempts to withhold billions in federal funding for law enforcement, counterterrorism, emergency services, disaster preparation and relief, repairs to crumbling transportation infrastructure, and transit improvements.
“The Trump Administration’s reckless attempts to take away billions of dollars in federal funding for law enforcement, emergency response, counterterrorism, transportation, and more will put our residents in harm’s way. These threats to public safety funding are outrageous, and we are moving swiftly to block them and protect our residents,” said Attorney General Platkin. “President Trump should stop playing political games with critical funding that keeps our communities safe. Just as we have blocked other efforts by this Administration to harm our residents, we will continue to work tirelessly prevent the loss of this critical public safety funding. We’ll see the Trump Administration in court.”
Last week, Attorney General Platkin co-led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing two lawsuits: one against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and a second lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy. Each agency has imposed sweeping new conditions that would withhold billions of dollars in federal funding for public safety and transportation infrastructure unless the states and state agencies devote their scarce law enforcement resources to federal civil immigration enforcement efforts.
The coalition has now filed motions for preliminary injunctions in both cases, seeking orders from the courts in both cases that would block the Trump Administration from imposing these unlawful conditions on federal funding to New Jersey and the other states in the coalition.
In their lawsuits and preliminary injunction motions, Attorney General Platkin and the attorneys general explain that Congress has established dozens of federal funding programs administered by DHS and DOT. The money Congress appropriated to those programs funds projects that range from protecting the state from terrorism to disaster relief and flood mitigation to railroad, bridge, and airport construction. New Jersey receives more than $2 billion in federal funding annually for these critical programs and projects, and all of that funding is put at risk by the Trump Administration’s threats to withhold this essential funding from the state. None of these funding streams has anything to do with immigration.
But 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 for all new federal grants to require recipients to agree to assist in enforcing federal immigration law as a condition of receiving federal funding.
Soon after 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, including for highway construction, public transportation maintenance, and airport and railway improvement.
In their request for a preliminary injunction against DHS and FEMA, Attorney General Platkin and the coalition point out that the conditions it has imposed on federal funding exceed DHS’s legal authority. The coalition further explains that the conditions are unconstitutional because Congress appropriated federal funding to help states prepare for, protect against, respond to, and recover from catastrophic disasters. The safety and well-being of New Jersey residents could be at risk if states are forced to forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in federal emergency preparedness and response funds. Attorney General Platkin 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 request for a preliminary injunction against DOT, Attorney General Platkin and the coalition point out that imposing an immigration-enforcement condition on all federal transportation funds, which Congress appropriated to support critical infrastructure projects, is beyond the agency’s legal authority. The coalition states rely on DOT money to fund highway development and airport safety projects, to prevent injuries and fatalities from traffic accidents, and to protect against train collisions. Attorney General Platkin 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. Now, Attorney General Platkin and the coalition are seeking a preliminary injunction that would prevent the Trump Administration from cutting this critical funding.
Joining Attorney General Platkin in filing these motions for a preliminary injunction are attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, and Vermont.
