Post
Federal judge says #Trump admin must restore #disaster money to #Democratic #states
A federal judge has blocked the Trump admin’s attempt to reallocate federal #HomelandSecurity #funding away from states that refuse to cooperate with certain federal #immigration enforcement.
#law #judiciary #RevengePolitics
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-sanctuary-city-trump-fema-9c441d9cbe953a8ecd78123f0fe8a64e
#US District Judge Mary McElroy’s ruling Monday solidified a win for the coalition of 12 attorneys general that sued the admin after being alerted that their #states would receive drastically reduced federal grants due to “sanctuary” jurisdictions.
The cuts were unveiled after a separate federal judge in a different legal challenge ruled it was #unconstitutional for the #federal govt to require states to cooperate on #immigration enforcement actions to get #FEMA #disaster #funding.
In her 48-page ruling, McElroy found that the #federal government was weighing #states’ police on federal #immigration enforcement on whether to reduce federal #funding for the #HomelandSecurity Grant Program & others.
“What else could defendants’ decisions to cut funding to specific counterterrorism programming by conspicuous round numbered amounts — including by slashing off the millions-place digits of awarded sums — be if not arbitrary & capricious?” McElroy wrote.
“Neither a law degree nor a degree in mathematics is required to deduce that no plausible, rational formula could produce this result,” McElroy added.
The #Trump appointed judge then ordered DHS to restore the previously announced #funding allocations to the plaintiff #states.
#law #judiciary #RevengePolitics #FEMA #disaster #immigration
“Defendants’ wanton abuse of their role in #federal grant administration is particularly troublesome given the fact that they have been entrusted with a most solemn duty: safeguarding our nation & its citizens,” McElroy wrote. “While the intricacies of administrative #law & the terms & conditions on federal grants may seem abstract to some, the #funding at issue here supports vital #counterterrorism & law enforcement programs.”
#judiciary #RevengePolitics #FEMA #disaster #immigration #Trump
McElroy notably cited the recent #BrownUniversity attack, where a gunman killed 2 students & injured 9 others, as an event where the $1 billion federal program would be vital in responding to such a tragedy.
“To hold hostage #funding for programs like these based solely on what appear to be defendants’ #political whims is unconscionable &, at least here, #unlawful,” the Rhode Island-based judge wrote in her ruling, issued little more than a week after the Brown shooting.
This is a bonfire demo instance for testing purposes
