A federal judge blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security on Oct. 14, saying they’re trying to "bully" state and local governments into cooperating with President Donald Trump's anti-immigration campaign if they want to receive federal disaster relief funds.
U.S. Senior District Judge William Smith in Rhode Island ruled Sept. 24 that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and DHS could not require states receiving FEMA money to help with the administration’s unprecedented deportation and crime-fighting efforts using DHS federal agents.
FEMA then sent out grant letters that included the same immigration enforcement conditions that the federal judge’s ruling had blocked. They warned that the conditions would immediately go into effect if Smith’s injunction was vacated or put on hold.
Smith responded with a sharply worded order saying DHS award letters being sent out "have done precisely what the Memorandum and Order forbids, which is requiring Plaintiff States to agree to assist in federal immigration enforcement or else forgo the award of DHS grants."
"No matter how confident Defendants may be of their chances on appeal, at present, the contested conditions are unlawful," Smith wrote in his Oct. 14 order.
