Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration's Funding Cuts to Sanctuary States

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to reallocate federal Homeland Security funding away from states that refuse to cooperate with certain federal immigration enforcement. U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy's ruling solidified a win for a coalition of 12 attorneys general who sued the administration earlier this year after learning that their states would receive drastically reduced federal grants due to their 'sanctuary' jurisdictions. In total, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency reduced more than $233 million from Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. The funding cuts topped a total of $1 billion program, where allocations are meant to be based on assessed risks, often funneled to local police and fire departments.The legal challenge came shortly after another federal judge ruled unconstitutional a requirement for states to participate in immigration enforcement in exchange for FEMA disaster funding. McElroy found that the federal government was improperly assessing states’ immigration policies when determining funding for grants. 'What else could defendants’ decisions to cut funding to specific counterterrorism programming by conspicuous round numbered amounts...be if not arbitrary and capricious?' McElroy wrote. The judge concluded that the Department of Homeland Security must restore the funding allocations. Attorneys general hailed the decision as a crucial victory preventing the administration from punishing states for their immigration policies. 'This victory ensures that the Trump Administration cannot punish states that refuse to help carry out its cruel immigration agenda,' stated Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.