‘Bulldozing through the Constitution’s boundary’: States accuse Trump admin of ‘funding hostage scheme’ to force compliance with its ‘mass deportation agenda’

A conjugation of 20 authorities attorneys wide are suing the Trump administration, claiming it is “unlawfully” withholding billions of dollars successful exigency absorption and catastrophe alleviation backing to force the states to comply with the president’s strict migration policies and propulsion for wide deportations.

According to the 73-page complaint, filed Tuesday successful the U.S. District Court successful Rhode Island, the medication is seeking to clasp hostage the national assistance programs created and appropriated with billions of dollars by Congress to guarantee the needs of the federation are met pursuing large-scale floods, fires, and earthquakes, among different large disasters.

States joining the suit see New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Named defendants see the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem successful her authoritative capacity, among others.

Specifically, the plaintiffs assertion that DHS and FEMA are “holding captious exigency preparedness and effect backing hostage” unless the states hold to give transgression instrumentality enforcement resources to 1 of the Trump administration’s apical priorities — the enforcement of civilian migration policies, which they accidental spell “beyond what authorities instrumentality allows (in immoderate States) oregon requires (in others).”

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“[T]hey question to necessitate galore States to wantonness well-considered policies that beforehand nationalist information by promoting spot betwixt instrumentality enforcement and migrant communities arsenic a information connected continued backing of exigency absorption programs unrelated to migration enforcement,” the ailment says. “By hanging a halt successful this captious backing implicit States similar a sword of Damocles, Defendants enforce immense harm connected States, forcing them to take betwixt readiness for disasters and emergencies, connected the 1 hand, and their judgement astir however champion to analyse and prosecute crimes, connected the other.”

Referring to the Trump administration’s argumentation arsenic a “grant backing hostage scheme,” plaintiffs spell connected to asseverate that the government’s actions interruption 2 cardinal principles of the U.S. strategy of checks and balances. The archetypal alleged usurpation is that agencies successful the enforcement subdivision “cannot enactment contrary to the authorization conferred connected them by Congress.” The second, per the states, is that the national authorities cannot “use the spending powerfulness to coerce States into adopting its preferred policies.”

“Defendants person ignored some principles, claiming undelegated powerfulness to spot their ain conditions connected dozens of assistance programs that Congress created and bulldozing done the Constitution’s bound betwixt authorities and national authority,” the ailment states.

The suit alleges that the administration, “in furtherance of this backing hostage scheme,” issued caller sets of “Standard Terms and Conditions” applicable to each national assistance awards successful March and April 2025. Those presumption and conditions included caller requirements that, for the archetypal time, compel states to propulsion their instrumentality enforcement resources distant from “core nationalist information missions” and divert them toward the administration’s migration enforcement priorities.

The states are besides required to halt immoderate programs that mightiness payment migrants successful the state illegally oregon that whitethorn incentivize amerciable immigration, according to the plaintiffs.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has been a persistent thorn successful Trump’s side since earlier his reelection, said that Noem and different officials person been engaged successful a concerted unit run since January aimed astatine forcing idiosyncratic states to “assist with the administration’s wide deportation agenda.”

“DHS is holding states hostage by forcing them to take betwixt catastrophe preparedness and enabling the administration’s amerciable and chaotic migration agenda,” James said successful a statement. “This backing is captious to keeping New Yorkers harmless during hurricanes, floods, and different catastrophes. The national authorities cannot weaponize catastrophe alleviation to coerce states into abandoning nationalist information and assemblage trust.”

The plaintiffs are asking a national justice to state that the caller conditions connected backing are unlawful and to contented a tribunal bid blocking the medication from utilizing exigency funds arsenic governmental leverage.