On January 31, 2025, the secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued an order that lists priorities for where DOT funding (i.e. “grants, loans, contracts, and DOT-supported or -assisted State contracts”) will be distributed. That list includes, among other things, prioritizing projects for jurisdictions that “require local compliance or cooperation with Federal immigration enforcement and with other goals and objectives specified by the President of the United States or the Secretary.”
This move puts funding for transportation projects in jeopardy for many cities and states. Federal courts are divided on whether the federal government can withhold grants and funding in order to encourage local jurisdictions to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. The issue was litigated in multiple venues during the first Trump administration but was never ultimately resolved by the Supreme Court, because the Biden administration ended the practice.