Connecticut Wins Legal Battle Against Federal Immigration Enforcement Threats

Connecticut has achieved a significant legal victory by securing a court order that prevents the Trump administration from compelling states to participate in immigration enforcement using the threat of withholding federal disaster assistance. This ruling marks a critical moment for states’ rights and public safety, as it stops the federal government from leveraging emergency funds to pressure states into cooperating with immigration policies.

The Connecticut Attorney General, William Tong, announced this win on Thursday, highlighting the administration’s attempt to use federal funding as a tool to enforce immigration laws. According to Tong, the Trump administration threatened to withhold financial support for emergency preparedness, counterterrorism efforts, mass shooting prevention, wildfire management, flood response, and cybersecurity initiatives.

The district court for the District of Rhode Island granted a motion for summary judgment filed by Tong and 20 other attorneys general in their lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In its decision, the court ruled that the agencies violated both the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by conditioning all federal funds from FEMA and DHS on states’ agreement to assist in enforcing federal immigration law.

Tong emphasized the importance of this ruling, stating, “You cannot play politics with disaster relief, not with lives and communities on the line.” He described the decision as a decisive victory for public safety and state sovereignty. The court’s opinion also highlighted that the Trump administration’s actions were arbitrary and capricious, similar to another recent legal win involving the Revolution Wind project. Tong noted that the administration had no authority to override the will of Congress.

In February, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem directed DHS and its sub-agencies, including FEMA, to stop providing federal funding to jurisdictions that do not assist the federal government in enforcing immigration law. This was followed in March by an amendment to the terms and conditions of federal funds, requiring recipients to certify that they would help enforce federal immigration law. These sweeping changes forced states and state agencies to cooperate with immigration enforcement or risk losing billions of dollars used for public safety.

The court agreed with Tong and the other attorneys general that the new conditions imposed by DHS violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The court found that the agency failed to consider public safety when implementing these conditions and that the requirements were overly broad and ambiguous.

Tong and his colleagues argued that the immigration-related conditions exceeded DHS’s legal authority and violated the Constitution. They pointed out that the programs in question were designed to help states prepare for, protect against, respond to, and recover from catastrophic disasters, not for immigration-related purposes. The district court concurred, ruling that imposing these conditions on all DHS and FEMA programs, regardless of their purpose, was unlawful.

Connecticut has benefited significantly from FEMA funding since 2021, receiving over $1.2 billion to prevent, protect against, and respond to flooding and other natural disasters, terrorism, mass casualty events, and other catastrophes.

This legal battle involved the attorneys general of several states, including California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Additional participants included the attorneys general from Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, and Vermont. Together, they have taken a strong stand against the misuse of federal funds for political purposes.

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