Judge blocks Trump administration from pulling states’ transportation funding over ICE cooperation
A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against the Trump governance, blocking it from requiring 20 predominantly Democratic states to work with federal immigration enforcement (ICE) to receive substantial transportation funding. chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell stated that this condition violated the constitution and emphasized that Congress had not authorized the Secretary of Transportation to impose such immigration enforcement conditions on the funding. The ruling came following a lawsuit filed by a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general, including California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, who argued that the administration was unlawfully coercing states into compliance with its strict immigration policies by threatening to withhold essential transportation funds. Bonta described the administration’s actions as both immoral and illegal, framing the funds as critical for maintaining and improving infrastructure rather than as leverage in immigration policy debates.
Judge blocks Trump administration from pulling states’ transportation funding over ICE cooperation
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration on Thursday from requiring 20 mostly Democratic states to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement in order to receive billions of dollars in transportation funding.
Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued a preliminary injunction that barred the administration from enforcing the new immigration rules for “the States and their governmental subdivisions” while the lawsuit plays out in court. He said that requiring the states to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to receive congressionally appropriated transportation funding violated the Constitution.
“Congress did not authorize or grant authority to the Secretary of Transportation to impose immigration enforcement conditions on federal dollars specifically appropriated for transportation purposes,” McConnell wrote.
McConnell wrote that the Trump administration’s policy “is arbitrary and capricious in its scope and lacks specificity in how the States are to cooperate on immigration enforcement in exchange for Congressionally appropriated transportation dollars — grant money that the States rely on to keep their residents safely and efficiently on the road, in the sky, and on the rails.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told states in April they could lose transportation funding if they do not cooperate with federal law enforcement, including ICE.
A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general filed suit against the administration, arguing it was unlawfully withholding federal funds to coerce them into adhering to President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda.
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a plaintiff in the case, hailed the ruling in a statement.
“President Trump is threatening to withhold critical transportation funds unless states agree to carry out his inhumane and illogical immigration agenda for him. He is treating these funds — funds that go toward improving our roads and keeping our planes in the air — as a bargaining chip,” he said. “It’s immoral — and more importantly, illegal.”
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