Attorney General Neronha, coalition secure preliminary injunction to stop illegal conditions from placed on billions in federal transportation funding

Published on Friday, June 20, 2025

Attorney General Neronha today released the following statement after a Rhode Island court granted a preliminary injunction filed by his office and a coalition of 19 other attorneys general against the Trump administration for illegally imposing immigration conditions on billions of federal dollars appropriated by Congress to support critical infrastructure projects.

“The President has no problem putting the safety of Rhode Islanders at risk for political gain, but we do, and yesterday’s preliminary injunction put a stop to it,” said Attorney General Neronha. “This Administration made it clear that it intends to hold hostage critical infrastructure funding, allocated by the Congress, if states did not acquiesce and relinquish their rights to enact policies and laws that best serve their residents. Well, that’s not how this country works. The ability of Rhode Islanders to travel on safe roads and bridges cannot, and will not, hinge on the political whims of one man, and we made sure of it. These unlawful attempts to weaken states’ rights and put Americans in harm’s way are being recognized as such, and I’m grateful to the Court for recognizing that we are on the right side of the law.”

Attorney General Neronha co-leads this lawsuit with the attorneys general from California, Illinois, Mayland, and New Jersey. They are joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, and Vermont.

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