California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, a real go-getter, filed two lawsuits on Tuesday going up against a Trump administration policy that could cost the state billions in transportation grants if they don’t play ball with the administration’s immigration enforcement rules. Bonta didn’t hold back, saying, “Let’s get real here. The President is basically saying, ‘Do what I say or kiss your funds goodbye.’ It’s like he’s using these grants as poker chips in a high-stakes game.”
The lawsuits, brought together by a group of states, are taking on the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security, claiming that the administration is overstepping its legal boundaries by imposing these new conditions on a wide range of grant programs. Last month, Trump pulled out his pen and signed an executive order targeting sanctuary cities and states that don’t fully cooperate with immigration authorities. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt backed up the order, saying, “Just follow the law, respect the law, and don’t get in the way of federal immigration officials doing their thing.” Sounds easy enough, right?
California, always on the cutting edge, passed the California Values Act back in 2018, setting the stage for what’s happening now. The state rakes in over $15.7 billion in transportation grants each year to keep things running smoothly. This includes a cool $2 billion for public transit systems, making sure buses, trains, and ferries are up and running. On top of that, the state also gets a chunk of the $20.6 billion in homeland security grants for emergency preparedness and cybersecurity. The coalition of states—California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island—are making it clear that these funds have nothing to do with immigration, so the Trump administration can’t just waltz in and start making demands. Seems like a fair point, doesn’t it?
