By: Laura Soukkavong
HARTFORD, Conn. — A federal judge has permanently blocked the Trump administration from attaching immigration-enforcement conditions to congressionally authorized public safety grants, handing Connecticut and a multistate coalition a court victory in a dispute over federal law enforcement funding.
Chief U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the District of Rhode Island ruled the administration’s actions unlawful and issued a permanent injunction preventing the disputed conditions from being implemented or enforced, according to a Nov. 5 announcement from Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.
The ruling concerns federal grants intended to support state and local law enforcement, including personnel, equipment and juvenile justice programs. The U.S. Department of Justice had sought to condition access to those funds on compliance with immigration-enforcement requirements.
Among the affected programs is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, commonly called Byrne JAG, a longstanding source of federal criminal justice funding for state and local governments.
Connecticut was awarded more than $6.8 million through Byrne JAG and $5.1 million through the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Formula Program between fiscal years 2022 and 2025, the attorney general’s office said. Those figures describe awards over that earlier period, not a new payment ordered by the court.
“Donald Trump has tried again and again to defund Connecticut law enforcement over irrelevant and extreme immigration conditions. Last year, we sued and we won to stop him from defunding support for victims of crime. We just won another major lawsuit to protect one of the most important sources of federal funding for local police personnel and equipment. We’re going to keep fighting for as long as we need to protect public safety,” Tong said.
The dispute follows a previous confrontation over Victims of Crime Act funding. According to Tong’s office, a multistate coalition previously succeeded in getting the federal government to remove immigration-related conditions from more than $1.3 billion in funds authorized under that program.
The Justice Department subsequently applied similar conditions to other grant programs, including grants for law enforcement and juvenile justice, prompting the latest legal challenge.
The states argued that the federal government could not use grants approved by Congress to compel state participation in civil immigration enforcement. The attorney general’s office said the challenged actions violated federal statutes and the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit was co-led by the attorneys general of California, Delaware, New Jersey, Illinois and Rhode Island. Connecticut joined alongside Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The permanent injunction prohibits implementation or enforcement of the immigration conditions challenged in the case. The attorney general’s release did not specify whether the federal government planned to appeal.