Judge Rebukes Ham-Handed' Trump Admin for Defying FEMA Order in Scathing Ruling

"A federal judge accused the Trump administration of defying a court order prohibiting the withholding of disaster relief funding to pressure states into helping with federal immigration enforcement. In a sharply worded ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William E. Smith said the administration has done precisely what the Memorandum and Order forbids, by conditioning Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FEMA grants on states' cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts."

"The fig leaf conditional nature of the requirement makes little difference, Smith wrote. No matter how confident Defendants may be of their chances on appeal, at present, the contested conditions are unlawful. He added that the administration's new condition is not a good faith effort to comply with the order; it is a ham-handed attempt to bully the states into making promises they have no obligation to make at the risk of losing critical disaster and other funding already appropriated by Congress."

U.S. District Judge William E. Smith ruled the administration conditioned DHS and FEMA grants on state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, violating a prior order prohibiting such withholding of disaster relief. Smith called the conditional requirement a superficial tactic that unlawfully pressures states rather than a good-faith effort to comply. He characterized it as a ham-handed attempt to bully states into promises under threat of losing disaster and other funds. The ruling follows a September decision that struck down the same policy as arbitrary, capricious, and unconstitutional and barred FEMA from withholding emergency funds from sanctuary states. A coalition of 20 states sued, saying the demands threatened funding for disaster response, cybersecurity, and public safety.

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