AG Jennings wins ruling protecting crucial law enforcement funding

Attorney General Kathy Jennings has announced that she has won a major court victory protecting $1.1 million in congressionally authorized public safety grants to Delaware, including grants intended to keep law enforcement officers safe and fight crime. The ruling blocks the federal government's imposition of illegal immigration-enforcement conditions on those grants; District of Rhode Island Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. declared the Trump Administration's actions unlawful and permanently enjoined any implementation or enforcement of those conditions.

"This attempt to strip funding from law enforcement looks a lot like the countless other attempts by the Trump Administration to bully and harass our state," said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. "It was malicious, destructive, and poorly conceived - and now, it's failed."

Last year, the Trump Administration, disregarding the clear letter of the law and intent of Congress, declared that states would be unable to access Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds unless they agreed to the Administration's extreme immigration demands. 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) has 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, regardless of which political party held power, the Byrne JAG Program has been the leading federal source of criminal justice funding to state and local governments. In Delaware, this ruling protects more than $485,000 funding to Delaware under Title II Part B of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, and more than $686,000 under the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program, which funds initiatives such as extreme risk protection order programs, mental health courts, drug courts, and veterans treatment courts.

Civil immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and not a state government responsibility. The Trump Administration's unlawful attempts to coerce states into doing their bidding conflict with core principles of American governance - the separation of powers and federalism. The Administration's actions violated laws passed by Congress as well as the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

This lawsuit was co-led by Attorney General Kathy Jennings, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha. It was joined by the Attorneys General of Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

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