On May 13, 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing a federal lawsuit in Rhode Island against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to block new DHS conditions that tie emergency management and disaster relief funding to state immigration enforcement actions. Since Donald Trump took office, DHS has imposed sweeping new requirements on its grant programs, mandating that states divert law enforcement resources to support federal civil immigration enforcement or risk losing billions of dollars in funding for emergency preparedness, disaster relief, and cybersecurity. States have also been ordered to immediately halt any program that “benefits” undocumented immigrants or “incentivizes” illegal immigration.

The coalition asserts that DHS has no legal basis to withhold critical emergency funding and cannot lawfully force states to choose between disaster preparedness and long-standing public safety policies that build trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities. In their lawsuit against DHS and FEMA, the attorneys general argued that the conditions imposed on federal funding exceed FEMA’s legal authority. The coalition further explained the conditions are unconstitutional because the Constitution reserves the power of the purse for Congress, not the Executive Branch. And here, Congress lawfully appropriated federal funding to help states prepare for, protect against, respond to, and recover from catastrophic disasters. Citizens across the country will be harmed if resources are withheld from states after a major disaster. The administration has repeatedly denied FEMA funding to states like North Carolina after Hurricane Helene and California after last year’s wildfires, and these new DHS conditions will continue to cause harm to vulnerable communities.

President Trump doesn’t have the authority to unlawfully coerce state and local governments into using their resources for federal immigration enforcement – and his latest attempt to bully them into doing so is blatantly illegal. Let’s be clear about what’s happening here: The President is threatening to yank funds to improve our roads, keep our planes in the air, prepare for emergencies, and protect against terrorist attacks if states do not fall in line with his demands. He’s treating these funds, which have nothing to do with immigration enforcement and everything to do with the safety of our communities, as a bargaining chip. But this is not a game. I’ll continue taking the President to court each time he breaks the law and puts Californians’ interests on the line. Attorney General Rob Bonta