California AG Rob Bonta accuses Trump administration of violating law at unprecedented pace, citing 39 lawsuits filed

Some of the battles against the second Trump administration are loud and visible. Others are quieter but constant.

In seven months, Democratic attorneys general have filed dozens of lawsuits, and California is moving fast.

“Our position is we hold the line on the law. The law is broken, we sue. We’ve done that 39 times in 31 weeks,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Bonta said his office has protected constitutional rights like birthright citizenship, Medicaid data the Department of Homeland Security intended to use for immigration enforcement, and federal funding for the state.

“We’ve protected $168 billion that California was owed, that Trump was trying to withhold,” Bonta said. “That money continues to flow to critical services here in California to support Californians.”

The attorney general said that overwhelmingly, the lawsuits his office has brought forward, have been effective through emergency relief, temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions or by getting the administration to change its policies.

“That happened when the Trump administration was trying to condition — put unlawful in our view — immigration conditions on funding from the Department of Homeland Security. They changed their policies and took away those conditions after we sued,” he said. “The courts remain a place where justice is done,” Bonta told Eyewitness News.

Many legal challenges not filed by Bonta’s office are still unfolding. For example, immigrants’ rights groups who sued the Department of Homeland Security point to ongoing sweeps as evidence the agency is possibly violating a federal court order. Bonta’s office supported the lawsuit through an amicus brief.

“We’re not naïve about the fact that he’s pushing the limits, potentially defying some of the court orders or at least not following them precisely or promptly or in good faith as the court has required,” said Bonta.

The California attorney general’s Office has led or co-led most of the 39 lawsuits its brought forward and filed more than 40 amicus briefs supporting other litigation against the Trump administration. The lawsuits nearly double the pace of those filed during the first Trump administration.

As the president hints at actions like the deploying the U.S. military to engage in criminal law enforcement in different cities as he is doing in D.C., Bonta said he and his counterparts are ready. “We’ve got a full tank of gas,” he said. “Whatever he does, we are ready to meet him in court and stop him.”