New Jersey joins lawsuit challenging immigration conditions on federal law enforcement grants
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport is co-leading a multistate lawsuit challenging immigration-enforcement conditions imposed by the Trump administration on federal grants used to support law enforcement and public safety programs.
Davenport joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in filing an updated and amended lawsuit challenging conditions the U.S. Department of Justice has placed on congressionally authorized grants.
“This is an outrageous maneuver that uses our dedicated law enforcement personnel as pawns in a political game,” said Attorney General Davenport. “This administration is holding up funding that helps pay for protective equipment for law enforcement, fight drug trafficking, enforce Megan’s Law, and find violent criminals. We will not let this administration attach illegal conditions to essential federal funding – funding that New Jerseyans send to Washington, D.C., through our tax dollars.”
According to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, the Trump administration last year declared that states would be unable to access Victims of Crime Act funds unless they agreed to immigration-related conditions. A multistate coalition successfully challenged those conditions, resulting in their removal from more than $1.3 billion in VOCA funding.
The Attorney General’s Office said the U.S. Department of Justice this year applied similar conditions to new grants, including funding for law enforcement and juvenile justice programs.
Among the affected programs is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, commonly known as Byrne JAG. The program provides federal criminal justice funding to state and local governments.
New Jersey law enforcement agencies received more than $21 million in Byrne JAG funding through the state from fiscal years 2019 through 2024, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The challenged conditions also affect funding for crisis intervention and youth justice programs.
The coalition argues that civil immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and that the administration’s attempt to condition the grants on state participation in immigration enforcement violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The attorneys general are asking the court to declare the conditions unlawful and permanently block their implementation or enforcement.
In addition to Davenport, the lawsuit is being co-led by attorneys general from California, Delaware, Illinois and Rhode Island.
Attorneys general from Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia have also joined the lawsuit, along with Pennsylvania.
