Federal district court issues ruling preventing the federal government from imposing immigration compliance mandates on grant recipients

Key Takeaways

On November 4, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the U.S. Department of Transportation cannot condition federal grant funding on a recipient’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts. In the ruling, the judge said that the department had “blatantly overstepped” its authority by tying transportation dollars to factors other than those clearly delineated by Congress.

This ruling comes in response to a lawsuit from several states over a letter issued by Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy in April of this year. In that letter, Secretary Duffy told grant recipients that “As recipients of [Department of Transportation] funds, you have entered into legally enforceable agreements with the United States Government and are obligated to comply fully with all applicable Federal laws and regulations.” He then added that those legal obligations include “cooperating with and not impeding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other Federal offices and components of the Department of Homeland Security in the enforcement of Federal immigration law.”

Last week’s ruling means that the U.S. Department of Transportation cannot withhold grant dollars to recipients—states, counties or cities—that have laws on the books that prevent the cooperation of local police with ICE or other federal immigration agencies. This pause, however, could be subject to change should the Administration choose to challenge the ruling itself or applicability of the ruling beyond the immediate plaintiffs.

In addition to immigration enforcement, Secretary Duffy’s letter also stated that the department would similarly look to condition federal grant dollars on recipients not enforcing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, especially in contracting. Last week’s ruling only applies to the immigration portion of April’s letter.

There have been other lawsuits, notably King County v. Turner, seeking to prevent the Administration from withholding funds based on a jurisdiction’s policies on DEI. While a federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction in that case preventing the Administration from conditioning federal funds based on DEI policies, that injunction only applies to the plaintiffs in the case and is also being actively appealed in court.

NACo, in conjunction with the International Municipal Lawyers Association and the Local Government Legal Center, will continue to monitor federal legal decisions that impact counties.