CHICAGO — Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul today secured a permanent injunction from the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island blocking the Trump administration’s effort to unlawfully impose immigration enforcement requirements on billions of dollars in annual U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grants. The final ruling follows multi-state litigation and a preliminary injunction.
“The billions of dollars appropriated by Congress are essential to states’ efforts to keep our residents safe as they travel our roads, railways and the skies,” Raoul said. “It is outrageous that the administration would attempt to hold critical funding – that has nothing to do with immigration – hostage to force states into complying with its cruel immigration policies. I am pleased with the court’s decision, and I will continue to fight the Trump administration’s ongoing attempts to play politics with Americans’ lives and safety.”
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In issuing a permanent injunction, the court found that the Trump administration “blatantly overstepped [its] statutory authority, violated the [Administrative Procedure Act], and transgressed well-settled constitutional limitations on federal funding conditions.” The judge’s ruling states that “the Constitution demands the court set aside this lawless behavior.”
Last year, Illinois was awarded more than $2 billion in DOT grant money, which is used to maintain the National Highway System, state and local roads and bridges, bike paths, transit facilities, public ports and airports.
Attorney General Raoul led the lawsuit along with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. They were joined by attorneys general from Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. Also joining the complaint was the governor of Kentucky.
