Judge rules Trump administration can’t tie transportation funding to immigration

The Trump administration cannot withhold billions of dollars in transportation funding to states that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled Tuesday. Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell wrote in his ruling that the U.S. Department of Transportation and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy “blatantly overstepped” their authority in attempting to link funding used to maintain roads, bridges and highways to immigration demands. 00:06 Top Stories from POLITICO The video player is currently playing an ad. “The Constitution demands the Court set aside this lawless behavior,” McConnell wrote. The decision represents another victory for Democrat-led states that have countered DOT’s attempts to disrupt transportation funding, including $5 billion for electric vehicle chargers that a judge in June ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze. Twenty states, led by California, filed a lawsuit in May after Duffy outlined the administration’s expectations for cooperation with immigration officials in an April letter. McConnell issued a preliminary injunction blocking the directive on June 19, the day before a grant application deadline for states. “If President Trump wants to stop losing in court, he should stop breaking the law,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Tuesday. “The courts have repeatedly and firmly rejected the Trump Administration’s efforts to infringe on states’ constitutional right to set their own policy priorities.” U.S. DOT spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Duffy said in an April statement after DOT issued the immigration enforcement condition to states that federal grants “come with a clear obligation to adhere to federal laws.” However, McConnell, whom former President Barack Obama appointed in 2011, wrote in his preliminary injunction that the Trump administration did not “cite to any plausible connection between cooperating with ICE enforcement and the congressionally approved purposes of the Department of Transportation.” For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.