Highway ribbons extending to the horizon in North Dakota. (Photo by Getty Images)

A federal judge in Rhode Island blocked an order that had been yanking billions of federal dollars for state roads, bridges and airport projects that didn’t support Trump’s administration’s immigration crackdown.

US District Judge John James McConnell Jr. granted a preliminary injunction late Thursday to 20 democratically-led states, which filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transport and Dott Secretary Sean Duffy.

McConnell’s orders apply only to the 20 plaintiffs’ states he wrote, as Duffy acted outside his authority when he placed new eligibility requirements on funds already allocated by the Congress for a particular purpose.

“(The terms of immigration enforcement) is backed by the Duffy Directive, with arbitrary and whimsical in scope and is not specific in the way the state cooperates with immigration enforcement in exchange for the allocated transport dollars by the legislature. order.

McConnell ruled ahead of the Friday deadline for infrastructure grant applications.

The states filed the lawsuits are California, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

“These illegal attempts to undermine the rights of the state and harm Americans are perceived as such. We are grateful that we have recognized us to be on the right side of the law,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Nerona said in a statement.

Fitting power

McConnell appears likely to thwart the Department of Transport’s move to withdraw billions in Congress’ fundraising at Wednesday’s hearing.

McConnell, appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2011, accused U.S. lawyer Sarah Miron Bloom of how the transportation sector can take power over funds approved by Congress.

“That’s how the constitution works,” he said. “Where does the secretary get the power and authority to impose immigration conditions on transport funds?”

The lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic attorney generals is April order It calls for the state to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement to receive federal grants already approved by Congress from Duffy, a former Wisconsin House member.

“The defendants are trying to retain tens of millions of dollars of vital transport funds to force plaintiffs’ states to become merely weapons of the federal immigration enforcement policy,” said Delbert Tran of the California Department of Justice, who claimed on behalf of the state.

On behalf of the Trump administration, Bloom said Duffy’s letter simply directs the state to comply with federal immigration laws.

McConnell said the state could interpret it that way, but the Trump administration has chased so-called sanctuary cities and targeted them for not taking the same aggressive immigration enforcement as the administration.

The judge said Bloom’s argument expressed a “very different” interpretation of the order than the way the administration publicly described it. He also said President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem “drifted away” the issues that arise from the sanctuary cities.

Trump on June 15th US immigration and customs enforcement has directed targeting Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. It is three major Democratic-led cities with policies that do not support immigration enforcement.

It will undermine the parliament

Tran said the Department of Transport’s directive is not only arbitrary and whimsical, but it undermines Congress’ authority as it allocated more than $100 billion to transport projects to the state.

Cutting funds would have disastrous consequences, the state argued.

“If more cars, planes and trains crash, and as a result, the defendant cut off federal funds for the plaintiffs’ state, more people will die.” According to a brief from the state.

Bloom defended Duffy’s letter, citing actions that hindered federal law enforcement, citing “they’d undermine the safety and security of the transport systems supported by DOT’s financial support,” and justifying the withholding of funds.

McConnell said he did not answer his question about the secretary’s authority to withhold funds allocated to Congress.

“The secretary appears to be saying that failure to comply with immigration conditions is related to the safety and security of the transportation system,” Bloom said.