Attorneys General Fight to Protect Funds Used to Protect Public Safety, Provide Emergency Services, and Repair Transportation Infrastructure

DOT Complaint | DHS Complaint

TRENTON — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin co-led a coalition of 20 attorneys general today in filing two separate lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s illegal attempts to withhold billions in federal funding for law enforcement, counterterrorism, emergency services, disaster preparation and relief, and repairs to crumbling transportation infrastructure. The Trump Administration is recklessly holding this critical federal funding hostage unless the states commit to redirecting their scarce criminal enforcement resources away from combating violent crime, drug trafficking, gun violence, and domestic violence and towards federal civil immigration enforcement instead.

Attorney General Platkin and the coalition filed one lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The coalition filed 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.

“Instead of working together with us to keep our communities safe, the Trump Administration is playing political games and threatening to withhold billions of dollars of federal funding that are critical for public safety. Stripping away essential funding for law enforcement, counterterrorism, emergency response, disaster preparedness and relief, and transportation infrastructure is completely inexcusable, and New Jerseyans deserve better,” said Attorney General Platkin. “By illegally threatening federal funding for infrastructure, emergency management, and even counterterrorism efforts, the Trump Administration is putting the lives of our residents at risk. These threats are outrageous, and they are unlawful. That is why I am co-leading two lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Transportation to ensure that our New Jersey communities are not harmed by these reckless actions.”

Attorney General Platkin and the attorneys general explain that Congress has established dozens of federal funding programs administered by FEMA 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.

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 recent weeks, state grant applicants have seen similar immigration-enforcement language added to the terms and conditions governing grants administered by the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Highway Administration. and the Federal Transit Administration.

In their lawsuit against DHS and FEMA, Attorney General Platkin and the coalition point out that the conditions it has imposed on federal funding exceed FEMA’s legal authority. The coalition further explains 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 lawsuit against the 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.

Joining Attorney General Platkin in filing the lawsuits 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.

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