California Sues Trump Over Efforts to Link Federal Grants to Immigration Enforcement

Another day, another set of legal actions taken by California against the Trump administration.

State Attorney General Rob Bonta filed two new lawsuits on Tuesday, along with a coalition of 19 other Democratic states, challenging the administration’s threat to withhold billions of dollars in federal transportation, counter-terrorism and emergency preparedness grants if those states refuse to cooperate with its immigration enforcement demands.

Bonta, who is leading the litigation, called the administration’s efforts a “blatantly illegal attempt to bully states” into falling in line with its hardline immigration agenda.

The crucial funding from the Departments of Homeland Security and Transportation has nothing to do with immigration enforcement, Bonta said.

“This is our money and the money of other states that he’s holding hostage for his own unlawful gain,” Bonta said during a press conference on Tuesday, held with the attorneys general of Illinois, Rhode Island and New Jersey. “President Trump can’t use these funds as his bargaining chip, as his way of ensuring states abide by his preferred policies. That’s not how a democracy works.”

The two suits, filed in a Rhode Island federal court, argue that the administration’s order violates the U.S. Constitution’s Spending Clause that precludes the executive branch from overriding the authority granted by Congress, and from using spending power to coerce states.

The Constitution makes clear that Congress, not the president, decides how federal money is spent, Bonta said.

“At this point, I’d recommend the President take a course on American civics to get a refresher on how checks and balances and the separation of powers work,” he added.

The Departments of Homeland Security and Transportation did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment.

California receives over $15.7 billion in grant funding from the Department of Transportation to support and maintain its roads, railways, airports and bridges, and roughly $20 billion in funding from the Department of Homeland Security to protect against and respond to terrorist attacks and other national security threats, according to Bonta’s office.

None of that funding has so far been withheld from states, Bonta said, noting that the lawsuits are intended as a preemptive action.

Bonta has now filed 22 lawsuits against the flurry of executive orders President Donald Trump has signed in the 16 weeks since he took office. Many of those suits — which push back against the administration’s efforts to roll back everything from offshore wind licenses, electric vehicle mandates and sanctuary cities — are still making their way through the federal court system.

In February, Trump issued an executive order to withhold federal funding for cities and counties across the country with sanctuary policies, a move subsequently blocked by a federal judge. The administration also issued Department of Justice memos instructing federal law enforcement to investigate and prosecute local officials who don’t actively assist in immigration enforcement.

During the first Trump administration, San Francisco and Santa Clara sued the federal government for attempting to withhold federal funds based on their sanctuary policies; the two counties prevailed in that suit before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that the policies were legal and the withholding of funds was not.

KQED’s Marisa Lagos contributed reporting.