Politics

Illinois Joins 20 States in Suing Trump Administration Over Immigration Conditions Placed on Federal Funding

Weeks before Gov. JB Pritzker is set to testify before Congress on state laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a coalition of 20 states in suing the Trump Administration, which they claim threatened to withhold billions in federal funding if they don’t comply with unlawful immigration conditions.

Raoul and 19 other Democratic attorneys general on Tuesday announced a pair of new lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation and their respective secretaries — Kristi Noem and Sean Duffy — claiming they’re attempting to illegally coerce states into enacting sweeping immigration enforcement.

If states don’t comply, the Trump Administration has threatened to withhold billions in federal funding for emergency services and infrastructure, which Raoul said would “put Americans at serious risk.”

“This FEMA and transportation funding has nothing to do with immigration,” Raoul said at a press conference Tuesday. “However, it has everything to do with the safety of our residents.”

Illinois last year received $2 billion in funding from the Department of Transportation and another $122 million from FEMA, according to Raoul. Those dollars, he said, were used to protect public safety, improve transportation infrastructure and fund disaster relief and flood mitigation.

The attorneys general said both Noem and Duffy directed their respective departments to halt federal funding to any states that refuse to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law.

Those actions came as the Trump Administration has repeatedly threatened to withhold funding to self-proclaimed sanctuary cities and states, though these efforts have thus far been blocked by federal judges.

Because the funding was initially appropriated by Congress, the attorneys general claim the departments cannot simply withhold it by forcing cooperation with federal immigration officials. Raoul claimed those actions are both “illegal and unconstitutional” and will make Illinoisans less safe.

“The administration seeks to jeopardize readiness for disasters and safe roads,” he said, “and try to force Illinois law enforcement offices to shift their focus away from addressing serious crime in our communities in order to instead do the federal government’s job of civil immigration enforcement.”

Earlier this month, Pritzker accepted an invitation from the Republican chairperson of the U.S. House Oversight Committee to testify in Washington D.C. about the state’s sanctuary policies in June.

The state law that prohibits state and local law enforcement officers from assisting federal immigration agents, known as the Trust Act, is designed to allow state and local law enforcement agents to focus on fighting crime while ensuring all residents, regardless of their immigration status, are not deterred from seeking help from police and obtaining medical care, a spokesperson for the governor said.

Already, Raoul’s office is involved in more than a dozen lawsuits against the Trump Administration. California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Tuesday said he’s involved in more than 20 such lawsuits.

While those suits have challenged policies on tariffs, federal employee firings to health care research, Trump’s focus on immigration enforcement and the mass deportation of immigrants in the United States illegally have received the most attention.

This has included the president’s promise to mass deport people to the start of a registry required for all those who are in the country illegally.

Heather Cherone and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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