US drops appeal of order blocking Trump plan to tie state transportation funds to immigration enforcement

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to dismiss its appeal of a lower court order blocking President Donald Trump's administration from forcing 20 Democratic-led states to cooperate with immigration enforcement to receive billions of dollars in transportation grant funding.

In July, a U.S. judge in Rhode Island ruled the U.S. Department of Transportation lacked authority to require the states to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain transportation funding and that the condition violated the U.S. Constitution.