Attorney General Brown Joins Multistate Lawsuit Against Trump Administration’s Imposition of Illegal Conditions on Victims

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AG Brown Joins 21 Attorneys General in Suing Trump Administration for Attempting to Block Access to Over $1 Billion for Victims and Survivors of Crimes 

BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced he joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration o​ver the illegal imposition of conditions on Congressionally-authorized Victims of Crime Act grants. The Trump administration, disregarding the clear letter of the law and intent of Congress, has declared that states will be unable to access these funds – used to support victims and survivors of crimes – unless they agree to support the Trump administration’s extreme immigration enforcement efforts. 

 “Crime victims need all the help they can get to survive traumatic, often violent experiences that can forever change their lives,” said Attorney General Brown. “The administration’s unlawful attempt to withhold this critical funding undermines the ability of states to provide essential services and threatens the trust that survivors place in programs designed to help them heal and rebuild their lives.” 

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: 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 9 million crime victims per year and to provide compensation for more than 200,000 victims’ claims each 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. In order to receive these funds, states must assist the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with civil immigration enforcement efforts, which is a federal, not state 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 Brown and the coalition are requesting that the Court permanently stop the Trump administration from implementing or enforcing these illegal conditions. 

In filing the lawsuit, Attorney General Brown joins the attorneys general of California, Delaware, Illinois, Rhode Island, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawai‛i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. 

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