A federal judge in Rhode Island on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from forcing 20 Democrat-led states to cooperate with immigration enforcement in order to receive billions of dollars in federal transportation grants.
Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell, a Barack Obama appointee, granted the states' request for an injunction barring the Transportation Department's policy, writing in a 10-page ruling the states were likely to succeed on the merits of some or all of their claims.
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by a group of Democrat state attorneys general who argued the administration was seeking to unlawfully hold federal funds hostage to coerce them into adhering to Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and border security.
The states argued that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy lacked the authority to impose immigration enforcement conditions on funding that Congress appropriated to help states sustain roads, highways, bridges and other transportation projects.
Since he began his second term, Trump has signed several executive orders that have called for cutting off federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions that do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Sanctuary jurisdictions generally have laws and policies that limit or prevent local law enforcement from assisting federal officers with arresting illegal immigrations. The Department of Justice has filed a series of lawsuits against such jurisdictions, including Illinois, New York and Colorado, challenging laws in those states that it said hinder federal immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit before McConnell was filed after Duffy on April 24 notified states they could lose transportation funding if they do not cooperate with the enforcement of federal law, including with ICE in its efforts to enforce immigration law.
The states argued that policy is improper and amounts to an unconstitutionally ambiguous condition on the states' ability to receive funding authorized by Congress as it leaves unclear what would constitute adequate cooperation.
The administration has argued the policy was within Duffy's discretion and that conditions should be upheld as there is nothing improper about requiring states to comply with federal law.
The 20 states also are pursuing a similar case also in Rhode Island challenging new immigration enforcement conditions that the Department of Homeland Security imposed on grant programs.