No Borders NewsIllinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is leading a coalition of 20 state attorneys general in two lawsuits challenging new federal requirements tied to large grant programs. The states say the Trump administration is trying to force states to carry out immigration enforcement by threatening to withhold billions in federal funding.
In one case, the coalition sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The states allege that FEMA and DHS added broad conditions to federal funding that would require cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts, or else states could lose money used for emergency response and related public safety work.
In a second lawsuit, the coalition sued the Department of Transportation (DOT) and DOT Secretary Sean Duffy. The complaint challenges DOT’s approach to tying transportation grant funding to immigration enforcement cooperation, including grants used for highway construction, public transportation maintenance, and improvements involving airports and rail.
The attorneys general say Congress created many FEMA and DOT grant programs for disaster relief, flood mitigation, and infrastructure projects. They argue that immigration enforcement is not what those funds were meant for, and that the federal government is using the funding as leverage to require states to do civil immigration enforcement.
The official announcement also describes steps taken earlier in 2025: DHS directed agencies to stop federal funding to jurisdictions that do not assist federal immigration enforcement, and DHS later amended grant terms to require recipients to certify they will assist. Around the same time, DOT sent a letter to grant recipients signaling an intent to require state and local governments to assist in federal immigration enforcement to receive DOT funds. The coalition says these actions exceed legal authority and are unconstitutional.