US judge blocks Trump from tying states’ disaster aid to immigration enforcement

A FEDERAL JUDGE ruled on Wednesday that an effort by the Trump administration to force states to cooperate with immigration enforcement in order to receive billions of dollars in emergency and disaster aid is unlawful and unconstitutional.

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US District Judge William Smith in Providence, Rhode Island, sided with 20 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia, which challenged conditions the US Department of Homeland Security placed on their ability to obtain grant funding.

Those states sued in May, arguing the department was unlawfully using federal funding intended for emergency preparedness and disaster relief to coerce them into adhering to the Republican president’s hardline immigration agenda.

The department, which oversees US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, had argued that such conditions were justified because it was tasked with enforcing federal immigration law.