Attorney General Clark Secures Crucial Law Enforcement Funding in Multistate Lawsuit

Attorney General Chairty Clark and a multistate coalition of 22 other states and districts today announced a federal judge delivered a major victory in a lawsuit challenging the federal government's imposition of illegal immigration-enforcement conditions on Congressionally-authorized public safety grants, including grants intended to keep law enforcement officers safe and fight crime.

Last year, the Trump Administration declared that states would be unable to access Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds unless they agreed to abide by conditions the Administration imposed for immigration enforcement. In a separate lawsuit, the multistate coalition succeeded in getting the federal government to remove those conditions on over $1.3 billion of VOCA funds.

However, this year, the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) applied these illegal conditions to new grants, including funds dedicated to law enforcement and juvenile justice. Among the affected programs is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Formula Grants (known as the Byrne JAG Program). For decades, the Byrne JAG Program has been the leading federal source of criminal justice funding to state and local governments.

The Court's ruling affirmed that the Administration's actions violated laws passed by Congress as well as the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Civil immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and not a state government responsibility. The Trump Administration's unlawful attempts to coerce states into carrying out civil immigration enforcement conflict with core principles of American governance.

Joining Attorney General Clark in securing this win are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.