Attorney General Raúl Torrez says ruling protects billions in FEMA and DHS funding for disaster preparedness and public safety programs.

Organ Mountain News report

ALBUQUERQUE - A federal judge has struck down Trump administration rules that sought to condition billions of dollars in federal emergency funding on state cooperation with immigration enforcement, siding with New Mexico and 19 other states in a multistate lawsuit.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island on Wednesday granted summary judgment against the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, finding the agencies violated the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by tying disaster funds to immigration policy.

Torrez hails ruling

“It is unconscionable that the Trump administration would threaten to withhold emergency relief funds as a way to leverage states to participate in their reckless policy of indiscriminate immigration enforcement,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. “Our citizens, like all Americans, are entitled to emergency relief from natural disasters without conditions.”

Torrez said the decision ensures billions in FEMA and DHS dollars remain available to protect New Mexicans from natural disasters, mass shootings, wildfires, floods and other emergencies.

Court faults federal agencies

The court ruled that DHS exceeded its authority by imposing sweeping immigration-related conditions on every FEMA and DHS program. Judges said the agencies failed to consider public safety, used vague and confusing language and violated the Constitution’s spending clause.

DHS had argued that immigration enforcement conditions were appropriate because some grants fund counterterrorism work. The court rejected that argument, saying the agency made no serious attempt to justify the requirement.

National coalition

The lawsuit was co-led by attorneys general in California, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island and joined by 16 other states plus the District of Columbia. Torrez said the case underscores how states rely on federal disaster dollars for public safety programs that have nothing to do with immigration enforcement.