Attorney General James Wins Lawsuit Challenging Immigration Conditions on Federal Emergency Management Funds

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General James today released the following statement after a judge ruled that the federal government’s conditions tying Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding to state immigration enforcement actions are unconstitutional as well as arbitrary and capricious:

“The federal government cannot prioritize its cruel immigration agenda over Americans’ safety. Today, the court affirmed that it is blatantly unconstitutional for DHS to hold life-saving disaster relief funds hostage to advance its anti-immigration efforts.”

Attorney General James and 19 other attorneys general sued DHS in May to block unlawful conditions that threatened to withhold emergency management and disaster relief funding from states refusing to aid federal immigration enforcement. Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted the coalition’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that the administration’s immigration conditions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Spending Clause.