Press Release  AG Campbell Announces Key Success In Lawsuit Against Trump Administration's Imposition Of Illegal Conditions On Victims Of Crime Act Grants

BOSTON — After filing a multi-state lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today announced that the DOJ has dropped its plan to impose illegal conditions on nearly $1.4 billion in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Victim Compensation and Victim Assistance 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 – used to support victims and survivors of crimes – unless they accede to the Trump Administration’s extreme immigration priorities. 

“Faced with our lawsuit, the Trump Administration has abandoned its cruel attempt to impose illegal conditions on nearly $1.4 billion in funding that supports victims and survivors of crime as they navigate their trauma and work to get back on their feet,” said AG Campbell. “This Administration’s attempt to play politics with the lives and wellbeing of our most vulnerable residents is both inhumane and unconstitutional. Our lawsuits are working, and we will continue to hold the federal government accountable for its illegal actions that harm our residents.” 

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. Such services include 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 provided states with critical resources 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 per 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. 

In state fiscal year 2024, Massachusetts used VOCA funding to provide more than $3.5 million in compensation payments to 825 claimants and nearly $18 million in grant awards to nearly 70 victim services organizations, serving more than 44,000 victims of crime. Already in state fiscal year 2025, $4.20 million in compensation payments have been made to 804 claimants, and nearly $17.6 million has been spent to support grant awards to 95 victim service organizations, serving over 32,000 victims of crime.  

However, the Trump Administration, through the DOJ, previously 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. In order to receive these funds, states were told that they must assist the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with civil immigration enforcement efforts – a federal, not state, government responsibility. 

Following the lawsuit brought forward by the coalition, the DOJ abandoned its plan to impose conditions on $178 million in VOCA Victim Assistance Grants and $1.2 billion in VOCA Victim Compensation grants. These grants will continue to be provided to states with no unlawful immigration enforcement conditions placed on them. 

Despite the federal Administration’s rightful abandonment of its illegal attempt to condition access to these VOCA grants, the Administration continues to cruelly target immigrant communities. Earlier this week, AG Campbell joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general challenging a new restriction preventing states from using VOCA and other grant funding to support individuals who cannot prove their status. AG Campbell and the coalition are requesting that the Court permanently enjoin the Trump Administration from implementing or enforcing these illegal conditions. 

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