Oregon Joins Lawsuits Against Trump Admin for Holding Emergency Funds Hostage to Enforce Immigration Policy

A coalition of 19 attorneys general, including Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield,  filed two separate lawsuits against the Trump administration yesterday.

The actions are a pushback against the Trump administration’s threats to withhold billions in federal funding for emergency services and infrastructure, which are attempts to coerce the states into sweeping unlawful immigration enforcement.

AG Coalition Takes FEMA and DHS To Court Over Attempts To Coerce Illegal Immigration Enforcement

The Trump administration, specifically the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of Transportation (DOT), has imposed new conditions that would result in the loss of billions of federal dollars used to protect public safety and transportation infrastructure if states and state agencies don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

$243 million in federal funding from FEMA was allocated to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management alone, and the Oregon Department of Transportation received over $728 million from DOT, which funded mainly federal highway projects.

According to Rayfield, if states are forced to forfeit federal emergency preparedness and response funds of hundreds of millions of dollars, the well-being and safety of Americans could be at risk. Rayfield emphasized that the move is another attempt to place conditions on money by holding safe roads and public safety as hostages.

The lawsuits are filed as Oregon Cities like  Portland, Eugene, Salem, and Beaverton grapple with deep budget cuts associated with the federal funding loss.

Rayfield said, “We believe it’s a fundamental right for Oregon to set its own course.”

The coalition of 19 attorneys general filed two lawsuits yesterday, arguing that the agencies imposed immigration-enforcement conditions on all federal transportation funds even though Congress appropriated the funding to support critical infrastructure projects.

The new conditions are beyond the agency’s legal authority. Lawsuits were filed against:

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
• The Department of Transportation (DOT) and DOT Secretary Sean Duffy.