WATCH: States win temporary order for FEMA grants

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(The Center Square) – Democratic attorneys general from California and 11 other jurisdictions won a temporary restraining order Tuesday preventing the Federal Emergency Management Agency from withholding over $233 million in the Homeland Security Grant Program.

Plaintiffs said that's over 50% of the money FEMA promised the states.

The order was issued by Judge Mary McElroy in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. That’s where the states’ lawsuit against FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, requesting "injunctive and declaratory relief," was filed Monday. FEMA is part of Homeland Security.

The suit accuses the Trump administration of reallocating the funds to states with immigration policies that President Donald Trump prefers. The lawsuit cites Trump’s instructions on his first day in office, Jan. 20, that the Department of Homeland Security deny federal funds to sanctuary states and jurisdictions. 

The money from the grants is used for paying for first responders and their training, testing computer network for cyberattack risks and financing mutual aid networks so first responders can go outside their jurisdictions to tackle disasters, according to the lawsuit. The grants were authorized by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Besides California Attorney General Rob Bonta, plaintiffs are attorney generals from Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington.

Their lawsuit accuses FEMA of allocating only $226 million to the plaintiff states, reducing the money they expected by over 50%. The suit says some states received more severe cuts: 69% or over $30 million in Illinois or 79% or over $100 million in New York.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said law enforcement and local leaders depend on the FEMA grants to prepare for emergencies and stop public safety threats.

“Over and over, the courts have stopped the Trump administration’s illegal efforts to tie unrelated grant funding to state policies,” Bonta said. “It’s a little thing called state sovereignty, but given the president’s propensity to violate the Constitution, it’s unsurprising that he’s unfamiliar with it.”

“California uses the grant funding at stake in our lawsuit to protect the safety of our communities from acts of terrorism and other disasters — meaning the stakes are quite literally life and death. This is not something to play politics with," said Bonta, who discussed the grants Monday afternoon at a virtual press conference.

Last week the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island issued a permanent injunction in California's lawsuit blocking the Trump administration’s effort to impose immigration enforcement requirements on billions of dollars in annual Homeland Security grants.

But on Saturday, California received $110 million in FEMA's Homeland Security Grants instead of the approximately $165 million it had expected, according to Bonta’s office. The attorney general and his staff said taking money away from “enemies” and giving it instead to “friends” violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution.

“There is no force in American politics that is more reckless and destructive than the current president of the United States,” Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown said. “This latest action again highlights his commitment to undermining the freedoms and well-being of people in every corner of this nation that may disagree with him.”

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul accused the Trump administration of jeopardizing the safety of Americans to advance the president’s agenda. “Congress approved this funding with the understanding that our nation is at its strongest when all Americans, everywhere, are protected from terrorism."

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong accused Trump of playing politics as he defunds some states and imposes "arbitrary and unworkable conditions on states like Connecticut."