NMDOJ says it has recovered $885M through lawsuits against Trump administration 

A top New Mexico Department of Justice official said Monday that the agency has filed or joined 50 lawsuits against President Donald Trump’s administration since he took office last January and, in doing so, saved $885 million federal officials sought to withhold from the state through program cuts or penalties. 

Anjana Samant, deputy counsel for impact litigation at the New Mexico Department of Justice, updated state lawmakers on the interim Federal Funding Stabilization and Affordability Subcommittee regarding her office’s judicial progress in combatting the Trump administration. 

The biggest court victory saved New Mexico $650 million in federal Transportation Department funding for roads and bridges. Last year, the Transportation Department threatened to withhold funding from states that did not use state law enforcement resources to help the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. A federal judge issued a permanent halt to that policy in November, and the Trump administration dropped the effort outright in January.

Samant described other victories against Trump’s efforts to condition federal funding on states complying with his immigration enforcement efforts. The state also successfully sued to save roughly $12 million in federal funding dedicated to crime victims, she said, despite the administration’s efforts to require funding recipients to grant federal immigration agents “unfettered access” to information about crime victims, including their immigration status. 

In that case, after the NMDOJ sued, the U.S. Department of Justice voluntarily agreed to withdraw the immigration-related conditions, she said. 

A year of suing the Trump administration: Q&A with New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez

Samant said tying immigration enforcement to federal funding, in addition to being illegal, puts states like New Mexico “between a rock and a hard place.” They are forced to either forgo funding that they rely on or risk a lawsuit if they fail to comply with the administration’s demands for immigration information and assistance. 

Other successful lawsuits have not been related to immigration but instead based on the Trump administration’s efforts to slash spending early on in his term. NMDOJ lawsuits restored $66 million in “critical” public health funding, more than $100 million in federal emergency management grants and several million more dollars in federal mental health grants for schools across the state. 

“Not only are these funds critical to maintain existing and launch expanded state programs, but they also are essential to fund the work of subgrantees such as community organizations, nonprofits, and other non-governmental entities,” Samant said.