State FEMA Grants Again Wrongly Tied to Immigration, Judge Says

A federal judge on Tuesday criticized the Trump administration’s attempt to again tie billions of dollars in disaster-relief grants to Democratic-leaning states to their promise of helping with immigration enforcement, saying the efforts amounted to bullying.

Senior Judge William E. Smith on Sept. 24 set aside language in grant award letters to 20 states and the District of Columbia about helping with the administration’s immigration efforts and barred enforcement of such conditions, but the Department of Homeland Security inserted similar language in new letters, the judge said.

And even though the new letters said the states only must comply ...