A coalition of 20 Democrat-led states filed two lawsuits on Tuesday seeking to block President Donald Trump's administration from mandating them to cooperate with immigration enforcement in order to receive billions of dollars in transportation, counterterrorism and emergency preparedness grant funding.
The states in a pair of lawsuits filed in federal court in Rhode Island argue that the Department of Transportation and the Department of Homeland Security are unlawfully using federal funds to coerce them into adhering to Trump's immigration agenda.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat who is leading the litigation, called the move a "blatantly illegal" threat by Trump to yank funds used to improve roads and prepare for emergencies if states do not use their resources to support immigration enforcement.
"He's treating these funds, which have nothing to do with immigration enforcement and everything to do with the safety of our communities, as a bargaining chip," Bonta said in a statement.
The states argue the administration, by imposing immigration-enforcement conditions on grant funding, is unconstitutionally seizing Congress' power over spending.
The DHS and DOT did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Since returning to office on Jan. 20, Trump has signed several executive orders that have called for federal funding cuts to sanctuary jurisdictions that do not cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Such jurisdictions generally have laws and policies that limit or prevent local law enforcement from assisting federal officers with civil immigration arrests.
A federal judge has blocked the administration from withholding funding from 16 cities and counties with such laws.
The Department of Justice under Trump has filed lawsuits against Illinois, New York and Colorado challenging laws in those states that it contends hinder federal immigration enforcement.
One of the lawsuits filed on Tuesday took aim at new requirements the DHS had imposed stipulating that states must support federal civil immigration enforcement or risk losing grant funding for emergency preparedness, disaster relief and cybersecurity.
"DHS is holding states hostage by forcing them to choose between disaster preparedness and enabling the administration's illegal and chaotic immigration agenda," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
The second lawsuit focused on a letter Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent on April 24 stating that states could lose transportation funding if they fail to cooperate on immigration enforcement efforts or maintain diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
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