NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- New York state sued the Trump administration to restore $33.9 million in anti-terrorism security funds for mass transit that were blocked because of the state’s immigration sanctuary policies.
The funds were awarded under a post-9/11 program designed to help protect against chemical, biological, radiological and explosive threats, the state said in papers filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. The funds are also intended to improve transit security and evacuation systems.
New York claims the money due to the state was earmarked to other states. It asked for an emergency order blocking the reallocation and restoring the New York’s funds before the end of the federal government’s fiscal year at midnight Wednesday.
“New Yorkers lived through the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history, and we know what is at stake here,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “Congress created this program after 9/11 to protect millions of daily riders. I am asking the court to act before midnight to stop these funds from vanishing and to ensure that New Yorkers are not put at risk by this administration’s political games.”
The state seeks to prevent the Trump administration “from cutting this funding for the purpose of punishing New York state for its policy decision not to devote its limited sovereign law enforcement resources to supplement the federal government’s civil immigration enforcement,” the state said in its complaint.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
The case is New York v. Noem, 25-cv-08106, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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