Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced the successful resolution of his lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from unlawfully allocating federal homeland security funding to and from states based on their compliance with the administration’s political agenda.

In December, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted a motion for summary judgment brought by Attorney General Raoul and a coalition of 11 other attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania. The Trump administration initially appealed the ruling, but dropped the appeal, ending the case.

“I’m pleased that our lawsuit succeeded in protecting critical resources to keep our communities safe. Congress approved this funding with the understanding that our nation is at its strongest when all Americans, regardless of where they reside, are protected from terrorist attacks, natural disasters and other life-threatening emergencies,” Raoul said. “I will continue to stand with my colleagues against the Trump administration’s illegal and dangerous attempts to coerce states into compliance with the president’s political agenda.”

On Sept. 27, without any notice or explanation, and four days before the end of the federal fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) significantly cut funding to certain states that are unwilling to divert law enforcement resources away from core public safety services to assist in enforcing federal immigration law, while reallocating those funds to other states.

FEMA issued award notifications in September for its single largest grant program, the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), which allocates approximately $1 billion in funds annually for state and municipal efforts to prevent, prepare for and respond to acts of terrorism. FEMA granted only $250 million to the 12 states that joined Raoul in the lawsuit. This was a $242 million, or 49%, reduction from the total amount that FEMA had previously stated it would provide to these states. Some states saw even sharper cuts. For instance, Illinois received a 69% reduction in funds, totaling over $30 million. New York received a 79% reduction in funds, totaling over $100 million. FEMA then redistributed the funds that it had cut to other states.

The U.S. District Court ordered DHS to amend the HSGP awards issued to the plaintiff states to reflect the funding levels that DHS had previously stated it would allocate, before the last-minute changes. The court further held that other significant changes to emergency-preparedness programs, also made at the last minute at the end of the federal fiscal year, were unlawful and set them aside.

Raoul led the coalition of attorneys general challenging the illegal cuts with the attorneys general of California, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Joining them in filing the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington, and the governor of Pennsylvania.