Multnomah County today joined a rapidly growing coalition of counties challenging the Trump Administration’s attempt to force them to adopt its political mandates or lose critical funding for health care, housing, and other public services.
The County is now among 60 local government entities joining King County v. Turner to protest new grant restrictions by the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Transportation (DOT), and Health and Human Services (HHS).
On Tuesday, the County also moved to join City of San Francisco v. Scott Turner along with other local governments fighting President Donald Trump’s executive orders aiming to defund jurisdictions for their sanctuary policies.
In both cases, the administration is demanding that local governments abandon their policies on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; gender equity; abortion access and immigration enforcement. Communities that refuse to accept these political conditions have been threatened with losing billions of dollars in federal funding, while compliance with these unrelated mandates would force local officials to implement policies that harm the very communities they serve.
“We cannot stand by while this administration shreds our local safety net to advance its political agenda,’’ said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “It is overstepping the Congress that authorized these funds, violating the Constitution, and breaking the promises made to our community.’’
What is at stake
In Fiscal Year 2024-25 which ended June 30, Multnomah County’s budget included more than $126 million in direct and pass-through federal grant funding. This does not include any Medicaid funding. It does include $5.5 million from the federal Department of Justice to support the District Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office and the County’s Department of Community Justice (parole and probation).
Last fiscal year’s budget also included $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and $53.3 million County-wide from Health and Human Services. Among the programs funded by these grants are Multnomah County Health Department’s public health services, including primary care and specialized services such as HIV/AIDS services, school-based and early childhood mental health, addiction medicine and outreach, public health and epidemiology, and healthy family initiatives.
The budget included $26 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Energy and the Treasury to support critical community programs through the Department of County Human Services, such as community school programs, housing programs, homelessness prevention services, nutrition and health programs, case management, and outreach.
And it included $7.4 million in HUD funding for the County’s Homeless Services Department and $12.4 million in Department of Transportation funding for infrastructure improvements.
“The loss of this federal funding for FY 2026 and in future years would cripple Multnomah County’s ability to provide services, and it would wreak havoc with staff’s ability to do any planning,’’ said Chair Vega Pederson.
Commissioner Shannon Singleton said “Housing, healthcare, and basic human needs should never be weaponized to advance political agendas. Our sanctuary and DEI policies are a reflection of Multnomah County. When we are facing economic hardships we should be protecting and expanding safety nets and not trying to bully communities into submission.”
Behind the lawsuits
The coalitions suing in King County and the City of San Francisco are represented by Pacifica Law Group and Public Rights Project, a national nonprofit that works with local governments to protect civil rights.
In May, a small coalition of local governments filed the King County case challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to impose conditions on housing and transit grants already approved by Congress. The lawsuit argues those actions are an abuse of executive power and violate the Constitution and federal law.
In June, a court issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration from enforcing the contested grant conditions, canceling awarded funds, or forcing local governments to formally agree to the conditions in order to receive grants.
Since then, the administration has introduced additional grant restrictions — this time tied to child welfare, health care access and civil rights enforcement programs. At stake is more than $12 billion in federal funding, including housing, transportation and health care grants.
The original plaintiffs to the Washington lawsuit are:
- King County, Wash.
- Pierce County, Wash.
- Snohomish County, Wash.
- San Francisco County, Calif.
- Santa Clara County, Calif
- Boston, Mass.
- Columbus, Ohio
- New York City, N.Y.
Other public bodies including the cities of Portland and Bend joined the lawsuit in late May, and with the addition of HHS grant conditions, Multnomah County is joining the action so that the 52 newly added plaintiffs now include:
- Denver, Colo.
- Nashville-Davidson County, Tenn.
- Pima County, Ariz.
- Sonoma County, Calif.
- Bend, Ore.
- Cambridge, Mass.
- Chicago, Ill.
- Culver City, Calif.
- Minneapolis, Minn.
- Pasadena, Calif.
- Pittsburgh, Pa.
- San Jose, Calif.
- Santa Monica, Calif.
- Tucson, Ariz.
- Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, Wash.
- Intercity Transit, Wash.
- San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Calif.
- Treasure Island Mobility Management Agency, Calif.
- Port of Seattle, Wash.
- King County Regional Homelessness Authority, Wash.
- Santa Monica Housing Authority, Calif.
- Alameda County, Calif.
- Albuquerque, N.M.
- Baltimore, Md.
- Bellevue, Wash.
- Bellingham, Wash.
- Bremerton, Wash.
- Dane County, Wis.
- Healdsburg, Calif.
- Hennepin County, Minn.
- Kitsap County, Wash.
- Los Angeles, Calif.
- Milwaukee, Wis.
- Milwaukee County, Wis.
- Oakland, Calif.
- Pacifica, Calif.
- Petaluma, Calif.
- Ramsey County, Minn.
- Rochester, N.Y.
- Rohnert Park, Calif.
- San Diego, Calif.
- San Mateo County, Calif.
- Santa Rosa, Calif.
- Watsonville, Calif.
- Culver City Housing Authority, Calif.
- Puget Sound Regional Council, Wash.
- Sonoma County Transportation Authority, Calif.
City of San Francisco v. Trump
Since January, President Trump has issued three executive orders to defund jurisdictions with sanctuary policies and directed the Department of Justice to pursue both civil and criminal legal action against these jurisdictions.
The County also this week filed a motion to join a widening San Francisco lawsuit that challenges the administration’s efforts to punish so-called sanctuary jurisdictions by using unrelated federal funding as leverage to enforce unlawful immigration policy.
Local governments argue that forcing them to aid in federal immigration enforcement violates the 10th Amendment, which protects states’ rights to govern their own affairs. The coalition also cites the constitutional principle of separation of powers, which prevents one branch or level of government from overstepping its authority and interfering with the functions of another.
Multnomah County is one of more than 600 jurisdictions nationwide with some sort of sanctuary policy adopted to ensure all residents — including people who are undocumented — can report crimes without fear. Sanctuary policies also allow jurisdictions to focus limited law enforcement resources on serious threats and safeguard civil liberties.
In December 2016, the Board of Commissioners passed a resolution upholding the County’s existing policies and laws around immigration status to affirm the County’s commitment to equity and the rule of law, and to ensure people in need can access County services regardless of their immigration status.
In seeking to join the San Francisco case this week, Multnomah County is highlighting that multiple State of Oregon laws prohibit local law enforcement agencies or public agencies from using their resources for detecting or apprehending persons for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration law.
"We are in a budget crisis where we had to cut vital services. We do not have the resources nor the responsibility to assist ICE in constitutionally questionable detentions," said Commissioner Meghan Moyer.
Those prohibitions include inquiring into or collecting information, in most cases, about an individual’s immigration or citizenship status, or country of birth; prohibiting civil arrests of any individual without a judicial warrant or order within a court facility; and prohibiting civil arrest of any party or witness going to court. (The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and other County officers are charged with enforcing this law.)
“Oregon law is clear that our limited local resources can’t be commandeered to do the federal government’s job,” said Chair Vega Pederson. “And we have been equally clear that everyone in our community is safer and healthier when we follow the local laws in place.’’
The original plaintiffs in the City of San Francisco case are:
- City and County of San Francisco, Calif.
- City of Portland
- Santa Clara County, Calif.
- King County, Wash.
- New Haven, Conn.
Additional parties joined earlier, and now Multnomah County seeks to join with more than 30 other local governments including:
- Alameda County, Calif.
- Albany, N.Y.
- Albuquerque, N.M.
- Allegheny County, Pa.
- Baltimore, Md.
- Benicia, Calif.
- Bend, Ore.
- Berkeley, Calif.
- Boston, Mass.
- Cambridge, Mass.
- Cathedral City, Calif.
- Chicago, Ill.
- Columbus, Ohio
- Culver City, Calif.
- Dane County, Wis.
- Denver, Colo.
- Healdsburg, Calif.
- Hennepin County, Minn.
- Los Angeles, Calif.
- Marin County, Calif.
- Menlo Park, Calif.
- Pacifica, Calif.
- Palo Alto, Calif.
- Petaluma, Calif.
- Pierce County, Wash.
- Richmond, Calif.
- Rochester, N.Y.
- Rohnert Park, Calif.
- San Mateo County, Calif.
- Santa Rosa, Calif.
- Sonoma County, Calif.
- Watsonville, Calif.
- Wilsonville, Ore.
- Minneapolis, Minn.
- Monterey County, Calif.
- New Haven, Conn.
- Oakland, Calif.
- Sacramento, Calif.
- San Diego, Calif.
- San Jose, Calif.
- Santa Cruz, Calif.
- Santa Fe, N.M.
- Seattle, Wash.
- St. Paul, Minn.
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