New Haven Joins Lawsuit To Block Trump Admin’s 'Unlawful Attack' On $100M In Emergency, Disaster Funding

NEW HAVEN, CT — Mayor Justin Elicker Monday announced New Haven has joined with eight other local governments on the East Coast and in the Midwest in "suing the Trump administration for attempting to impose unlawful and unrelated conditions on federal emergency and disaster preparedness funds," according to a news release.

This is the third lawsuit that the City of New Haven has filed against the Trump Administration, along with joining numerous other amicus briefs.

"The conditions would force local governments to adopt the administration’s political agenda or risk losing critical funding," it was noted.

The new lawsuit filed in federal court in Illinois is taking aim at how over $100 million in federal grants are being handled. These grants, managed by the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, are meant to help local governments protect more than 14 million people — funding things like fire department staffing, port and transit security, counterterrorism efforts, and flood prevention projects, according to the Mayor's office.

But the lawsuit claims the federal government is trying to use this critical funding as a bargaining chip to push political goals that have nothing to do with public safety. Specifically, the administration is requiring local governments to drop their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and follow all executive orders tied to grant funding — or risk losing the money, City noted.

The local governments signed on argue that these demands are unconstitutional and go way beyond what Congress intended when it approved the grants.

In addition to New Haven, the stakes are high in other communities across the country:

• In Chicago, Ill., the city is relying on approximately $6 million to ensure that 47 Chicago police department positions that are dedicated to protecting public transportation infrastructure from terrorism are properly trained and equipped.
• In New York City, $12 million is slated to protect its transit system from terrorism, major disasters and other emergencies.
• In Denver, Colo., over $4 million in federal grants is essential to fund emergency preparedness for the city and its surrounding region.

Without these funds, millions of people will face greater public safety risks. In addition, the lack of funds will force communities to divert scarce resources from other essential services, delay projects or cancel them entirely.
The complete list of plaintiffs are:

• Chicago, Ill. (lead plaintiff)
• Baltimore, Md.
• Boston, Mass.
• City and County of Denver, Colo.
• Minneapolis, Minn.
• New York City, NY
• New Haven, Conn.
• Ramsey County, Minn.
• Saint Paul, Minn.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division (Case No. 1:25-cv-12765) and a copy of the complaint can be found here and Exhibit A, which includes the terms and conditions, can be found here.

"Emergency and disaster relief funding should not be politicized or subject to so-called ‘terms and conditions’ that have absolutely nothing to do with public safety. The Trump Administration is once again playing politics with public safety and people’s lives, and we will not stand for it," Elicker said.

"These new terms and conditions also represent a potentially dangerous precedent by the Trump Administration to try to make federal funding conditional on acquiescing to their right-wing political ideology – and it’s important that we draw a clear line in the sand that this not acceptable. New Haven is a city that values and cherishes diversity, equity and inclusion and we will not abandon these bedrock principles of a more inclusive city and society."

In the fiscal year 2025, the City of New Haven was awarded $93,597 through FEMA’s Port Security Grant Program. The PSGP provides federal funding to state, local, territorial and private-sector partners to help protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism and other emergencies, enhance maritime domain awareness, improve port-wide maritime security risk management, and maintain or reestablish maritime security mitigation protocols that enhance port recovery and resiliency capabilities, the Mayor explained.

"These funds are slated to be used for critical port security investments, including camera maintenance, upgrades, and expansions to the portion of the city’s camera network devoted to the port and related waterways," according to the news release. "Several cameras and related servers are nearing the end of their useful life and need to be upgraded and replaced."

The City of Chicago is the lead plaintiff in the case, City of Chicago et al v. Kristi Noem et al.

"Chicago will not stand by while the federal government weaponizes emergency funding to attack our values," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was quoted as saying in the Elicker news release. "Chicago will always uphold the importance of our diversity. Ensuring that all Chicagoans have an opportunity to succeed is not discrimination; it's just basic fairness. We will fight to ensure our first responders have the tools they need, that our commitment to equity and inclusion remains strong, and that we receive every federal dollar intended for public safety."

The City of New Haven and several other jurisdictions are working with Public Rights Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit that works with local governments to protect civil rights, and counsel from other plaintiff jurisdictions, Elicker said.

"We’ve seen this playbook before from the Trump administration – weaponizing federal funding to bully local governments into abandoning policies that keep people safe," said Jill Habig, founder and CEO of Public Rights Project, was quoted as saying. "Our latest lawsuit further highlights the widespread harm these policies are causing in both major urban areas and small counties across the country."