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Trump can't tie disaster aid to immigration policy: judge

A federal judge this week blocked the Trump administration from conditioning disaster and security funds for states on their immigration policies.

© AP

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued terms and conditions for federal grants, which state that recipients must coordinate and cooperate with immigration officials.

Twenty Democrat-led states sued over the use of this policy at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is part of DHS. They argued that their immigration policies should not impact the ability to receive disaster and counterterrorism grants.

Judge William Smith, agreed, issuing a permanent injunction barring the department from enforcing the conditions.

Smith, a former President George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the conditions were both “arbitrary and capricious” as well as “unconstitutional.”

In response, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a written statement that “cities and states who break the law and prevent us from arresting criminal illegal aliens should not receive federal funding.”

“The Trump Administration is committed to restoring the rule of law. No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that,” McLaughlin added.

Read more at TheHill.com.

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