NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has permanently blocked the Trump administration from withholding nearly $34 million in funds intended to protect New York’s transit system from terrorist attacks.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said in a ruling Thursday that the Republican administration’s decision, based on the Big Apple’s protections as a “sanctuary city” for immigrants in the United States illegally, was “arbitrary, capricious and a flagrant violation of the law.”
The post-9/11 Transit Security Grant Program, Kaplan noted in granting a permanent injunction, was created with instructions that money be allocated solely on the basis of terrorism risk. The judge had previously issued an order to temporarily freeze the move.
The state sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency after they said last month they were defunding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which manages the city’s transportation system.
A FEMA official revealed in a court filing that the transit authority “did not receive funds because the applicant is based in New York City, a city designated as a Sanctuary Jurisdiction.”
The MTA said its allocation, the largest of any transit agency, pays for targeted counterterrorism patrols, security equipment, infrastructure improvements, cybersecurity technology and weapons detection technologies.
In a statement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James hailed Kaplan’s ruling as “a victory for every New Yorker who rides our subways, buses and commuter trains.”
“A court has once again affirmed that this administration cannot punish New York by arbitrarily eliminating critical security resources and defunding law enforcement that keeps passengers safe,” said Hochul and James, both Democrats.