A federal judge just yanked the steering wheel away from Donald Trump’s latest maneuver to pressure states into backing his immigration crackdown—by threatening their highway money.
The plan? Strip transportation grants from 20 Democrat-led states unless they pledged allegiance to federal immigration enforcement. The result? A judicial roadblock.
Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell, ruling from Providence, Rhode Island, said the Trump administration’s move was not only unauthorized by Congress—it was flat-out unconstitutional. McConnell made it plain: transportation dollars are for roads, bridges, and runways—not for pushing a political immigration agenda.
“There’s zero connection between fixing a pothole and checking immigration papers,” the judge effectively wrote in his decision, tossing a preliminary injunction over the administration’s plan. Translation: Trump can’t withhold those billions just because states won’t play ball with ICE.
This legal detour came after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent out a blunt notice in April—comply with federal immigration law or risk losing infrastructure cash. States shot back in court, accusing Trump of holding public safety hostage to his hardline vision.
Since retaking the Oval Office in January, Trump has unleashed a barrage of executive orders targeting sanctuary jurisdictions—those cities and states that don’t assist in civil immigration enforcement. The transportation funding threat was just his latest move in a broader campaign of fiscal coercion.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta praised the ruling as a vital check on presidential overreach, saying Trump was treating transportation grants like poker chips in a high-stakes political gamble.
The 20 states involved aren’t done, either. They’ve filed a separate challenge over similar conditions imposed by the Department of Homeland Security on other grants, keeping the courtroom battles alive even as bulldozers keep moving asphalt.
For now, the road money stays where Congress intended it—to pave roads, not political agendas.
