Attorney General Neronha announces key victory in multistate lawsuit against Trump Administration’s imposition of illegal conditions on grants for crime victims
Published on Friday, October 03, 2025
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha today announced that following the filing of a lawsuit, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has now dropped its plan to impose illegal conditions on nearly $1.4 billion in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration, disregarding the clear letter of the law and intent of Congress, declared that States would be unable to access VOCA funds – used to support victims and survivors of crimes – unless they accede to the Trump Administration’s immigration priorities.
“Because of the action taken by this coalition, more than a billion dollars in federal grant funding for victims of crime has been secured,” said Attorney General Neronha. “What does that tell us? The unlawful actions of this Administration are being recognized as such by the courts, and they are losing these lawsuits. It also tells us that as all-powerful as this President would like you to believe he is, he’s still limited by the letter of the law and the separation of powers. Today we celebrate the win, and tomorrow we continue the fight.”
The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) was enacted in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, creating a series of grant programs to enable states to provide critical resources and services to victims and survivors of crime as they try to restore normalcy in their lives. Supported programs include victim and witness advocacy services, emergency shelter, medical, funeral, and burial expenses, crime scene cleanup, sexual assault forensic exams, and much more. These funding streams—totaling more than a billion dollars a year nationwide—have long ensured that states could fulfill their most fundamental duties: to protect public safety and redress harm to their residents. States use these funds to assist nearly nine million crime victims per year and to provide compensation for more than 200,000 victims’ claims per year. Congress has required the distribution of nearly all VOCA funding to states based on fixed statutory formulas and has repeatedly acted to ensure sufficient funding for crime victims, including after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
However, the Trump Administration, through the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ), has declared that states, along with the victims and survivors they serve, will be blocked from these funds unless they comply with the Administration’s political agenda – namely its immigration enforcement priorities. To receive these funds, states must assist the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with civil immigration enforcement efforts – a federal government responsibility.
This directive conflicts with core principles of American governance – the separation of powers and federalism. Congress did not authorize USDOJ to impose conditions on these grant programs that coerce states to devote their resources to enacting the Administration’s immigration agenda. As such, Attorney General Neronha and the coalition are requesting that the Court permanently enjoin the Trump Administration from implementing or enforcing these illegal conditions.
In Rhode Island, VOCA grants are the primary source of funding for victim services. Most of that funding flows from VOCA’s two main grants: victim compensation grants, which provide direct financial support to crime victims, and victim assistance grants, which are almost entirely distributed to nonprofits throughout the state to provide additional support services to those impacted by crime. For federal FY 2024, Rhode Island received nearly $3 million in VOCA victim assistance funds and another close to $300K in VOCA victim compensation funds. During that same time period, VOCA assistance funds were used to provide services to approximately 41,015 individuals through dozens of nonprofits, and 635 individuals received VOCA compensation payments through the State’s Crime Victim Compensation Program.
Attorney General Neronha co-led this coalition together with New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and is joined in filing the lawsuit by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
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