ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL ANNOUNCES VICTORY IN LAWSUIT OVER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT CONDITIONS ON VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT GRANTS

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL ANNOUNCES VICTORY IN LAWSUIT OVER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT CONDITIONS ON VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT GRANTS

October 03, 2025

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced that after he led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing a multistate lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the 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 unless they agreed to the administration's demands that states assist in federal immigration enforcement. VOCA funds are used to support victims and survivors of crimes and are not related to immigration enforcement.

"This is a win for survivors of violent crimes who rely upon this funding for programs that help them recover from the physical and emotional trauma they have endured," Raoul said. "These funds have no relationship to civil immigration policy, and the Trump administration's plan to impose conditions on this funding was unlawful and immoral. I will continue to lead the effort, along with other attorneys general, to protect federal funding for programs that support survivors of violent crimes."

Following the lawsuit Raoul and the coalition filed, the DOJ is abandoning its plan to impose immigration-related conditions on $178 million in VOCA Victim Assistance Grants and $1.2 billion in VOCA Victim Compensation grants. Now, these grants will continue to be provided to states with no requirement that states assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in immigration enforcement.

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. The funding supports victim and witness advocacy services, emergency shelter, medical, funeral and burial expenses, crime scene cleanup, sexual assault forensic exams and more. The funding streams for these services - 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, including Illinois, use these funds to assist nearly 9 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 to be 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 DOJ, declared that states, along with the victims and survivors they serve, would be blocked from these funds unless they comply with the administration's political agenda, namely its immigration enforcement priorities. The DOJ has placed these conditions on $54 million of fiscal year 2025 funds allocated to Illinois to support crime victims.

In order to receive these funds, the Trump administration was requiring states to assist DHS with civil immigration enforcement efforts, which is a federal - not state government - responsibility.

Raoul is co-leading this lawsuit with New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha. Also part of the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.