Judge: FEMA Can’t Withhold Aid Over Immigration Enforcement

The Trump administration’s effort to withhold FEMA grants from states that don’t cooperate with immigration enforcement has faced a legal setback after a federal judge ruled the practice was unconstitutional.

According to CBS News, U.S. District Judge William Smith of Rhode Island ruled in favor of California, New York, Illinois, and the 17 other states that filed a lawsuit against FEMA, accusing the agency of “holding critical emergency preparedness and response funding hostage.” The lawsuit stems from a memo sent by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year telling states they must “honor requests for cooperation” with immigration authorities if they wanted to continue receiving FEMA grants. Some of the plaintiffs are “sanctuary” states and have laws preventing local law enforcement from cooperating with immigration enforcement. 

From CBS News:

The states argued this move violates federal law and the Constitution, and could deprive them of billions per year in key disaster grants from FEMA, which is a sub-agency of DHS.

The Trump administration has argued its policy doesn’t violate the law. Also, months after the lawsuit was filed, the government told the court it had decided most of the FEMA disaster grants that the states were concerned about losing will not be tied to immigration cooperation after all. The administration called the lawsuit moot on those grounds. 

The states called the Trump administration’s decision not to link disaster grants to immigration enforcement “halfhearted and incomplete,” arguing it’s unclear if the decision was communicated to agency staff or if it will apply to years beyond 2025.

Smith called the policy “both arbitrary and capricious and unconstitutional” in his ruling. “Plaintiff States stand to suffer irreparable harm; the effect of the loss of emergency and disaster funds cannot be recovered later, and the downstream effect on disaster response and public safety are real and not compensable,” Smith wrote.

New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement celebrating the ruling. “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,” James’ statement read. 

​​DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin released a statement after the ruling saying that cities and states that “break the law and prevent us from arresting criminal illegal aliens should not receive federal funding.”

“The Trump Administration is committed to restoring the rule of law. No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that,” she added. DHS is expected to appeal the ruling.

Strangely, FEMA has been one of the primary targets of the Trump administration. The disaster management agency has lost several key officials throughout the year as a result of sweeping changes the Trump administration has made to the agency. In May, Trump installed David Richardson as acting director of FEMA despite his having no prior experience in disaster management. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem then issued a mandate requiring her approval for every expenditure over $100,000. 

The overhaul at FEMA has been part of an effort by the Trump administration to send disaster management back to the states, despite many of the states most affected by climate events not having the budget necessary to effectively handle disaster response and recovery. 

These changes at FEMA came to a head during the devastating floods in Texas’ Kerr County over the Fourth of July weekend. FEMA was delayed in sending search and rescue teams to Texas due to Noem’s mandate, resulting in the head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue Team resigning. This week, it was revealed that FEMA officials were unable to contact Richardson for 24 hours after the floods hit, which further hampered their recovery efforts.

FEMA published the “Katrina Declaration” on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, criticizing the Trump administration’s handling of the agency and warning that the changes would cause a tragedy on the scale of Katrina. So, while states no longer have to worry about immigration enforcement being tied to FEMA funding, there is still plenty of nonsense they have to endure in order to secure assistance from the agency. 

SEE ALSO:

FEMA Publishes ‘Katrina Declaration’ On Storm’s 20th Anniversary

FEMA Spending $608M To Build Immigrant Detention Centers

Mass Exodus Of FEMA Leadership Ahead Of Hurricane Season

Federal Judge Rules FEMA Can’t Withhold Aid Over Immigration Enforcement  was originally published on newsone.com