Attorney General James Sues U.S. Department of Justice to Protect Services for Survivors of Violent Crime

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined 20 other attorneys general in suing to block the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from illegally conditioning federal funding for crime victims on states’ cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts. The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) provides more than a billion dollars in grants to states each year to support survivors of crime with services such as medical care, counseling, shelter, and compensation for lost wages. The funds also enable victims and their families to fully participate in the criminal justice system in the wake of a crime. Now, DOJ is forcing states to choose between abandoning public safety policies that protect all New Yorkers – including immigrant communities – and forfeiting the lifesaving funding that millions of victims rely on. Attorney General James and the coalition are asking the court to strike down these unlawful conditions and ensure survivors and their families can continue to access critical services.

“The federal government is attempting to use crime victim funds as a bargaining chip to force states into doing its bidding on immigration enforcement,” said Attorney General James. “These grants were created to help survivors heal and recover, and we will fight to ensure they continue to serve that purpose. New Yorkers deserve a justice system that puts their safety first. We will not be bullied into abandoning any of our residents.”

Congress enacted VOCA more than 40 years ago to address the neglect of crime victims in the criminal justice system. Funded entirely by fines and penalties from federal criminal cases, VOCA grants support compensation programs and direct assistance for survivors, including advocacy services, crisis counseling, sexual assault forensic exams, funeral and burial costs, and emergency shelter. VOCA has been critical in improving the treatment of victims of serious crimes by providing them with the assistance, support, and services necessary to aid their recovery after the trauma of a criminal act and to help them navigate the justice system. States use these funds to assist approximately 10 million victims each year. In 2025, nearly $1.4 billion in VOCA funds are available for states.

Under DOJ’s new immigration-related conditions, VOCA funding would be cut off to any state or subgrantee that refuses to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unfettered access to facilities, provide advance notice of individuals’ release dates, or honor all civil immigration enforcement requests. These requirements directly conflict with policies that New York and many other states have adopted to ensure victims and witnesses can report crimes without fear of deportation.

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that losing VOCA funds would devastate the network of victim services programs that states have built over decades. Without this funding, states would be forced to scale back or shut down compensation programs that cover medical bills, funeral costs, and lost wages for survivors, as well as assistance programs that provide counseling, emergency shelter, crisis hotlines, and legal support. The sudden loss of these resources would disrupt services for millions of survivors nationwide, leaving many without access to the help they need to recover from violence and trauma, and undermining public safety in communities across the country.

In New York, more than $212 million in VOCA funds are at stake. These grants support thousands of victims each year by covering urgent needs such as medical care and rape kits, crime scene clean-up, relocation to ensure safety, funeral and burial expenses, transportation to court, and long-term counseling. VOCA dollars also fund a statewide network of more than 250 community-based programs – many of them the sole provider in rural counties – offering crisis hotlines, domestic violence shelters, advocates to accompany survivors to court, and specialized services for children, older adults, and people with disabilities. Without this funding, programs across the state would be forced to close or turn survivors away, erasing decades of trust built with immigrant and other vulnerable communities and leaving countless New Yorkers without the support they need to heal, seek justice, and rebuild their lives.

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that DOJ is presenting states with an impossible choice: either forego millions of dollars in congressionally-appropriated funds that support some of their most vulnerable residents in the aftermath of a crime or undermine their own public safety policies by diverting state and local resources to federal civil immigration enforcement. Accepting these unlawful terms, they contend, would destroy trust between immigrant communities and the legal system, making it difficult to pursue justice and fully protect communities from crime.

The attorneys general assert that DOJ’s attempt to strong-arm states into abandoning these policies by manipulating critical funding for victims violates fundamental constitutional principles, including separation of powers and federalism. They argue that the conditions exceed DOJ’s statutory authority under VOCA, undermine Congress’ power of the purse, upset the federal-state balance, and run afoul of the Constitution’s Spending Clause and separation of powers doctrine, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.

Attorney General James and the coalition are asking the court to block DOJ from enforcing these unlawful conditions, vacate the immigration enforcement requirements from this year’s VOCA grants, and ensure that states continue to receive the funds Congress intended to support crime victims and their families.

Joining Attorney General James in filing today’s lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.