Attorney General Ellison notches key victory against Trump administration’s imposition of illegal conditions on Victims of Crime Act grants

After AG Ellison and coalition of 20 attorneys general sue, Trump Administration backs down on blocking access to nearly $1.4 billion for victims and survivors of crimes; approximately $22 million to flow to Minnesota victims and survivors because of AG Ellison’s win

October 3, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Attorney General Keith Ellison today announced that the Trump Administration Department of Justice has now dropped its plan to impose illegal conditions on nearly $1.4 billion in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants in response to the lawsuit that Attorney General Ellison and a coalition of 20 attorneys general filed against the move in August. 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 demands that States assist in federal immigration enforcement.

Because of Attorney General Ellison’s win as part of this coalition, approximately $22 million will now flow to victims and survivors of crime in Minnesota.

“Minnesotans will be less safe if we pull police from their patrols and investigations and instead direct them to assist with President Trump’s extreme immigration agenda,” said Attorney General Ellison. “Because Minnesota refused to bow to that demand, Trump tried to cut funding for crime victims, including things like emergency shelters, crime scene cleanup, burial expenses, and forensic exams for survivors of sexual assault. I am glad we forced the administration to back down from this heinous act, but it remains deeply troubling that Minnesota had to sue the Trump Administration to stop them from using crime victims as political props.”

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: 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 ensured that States could fulfill their most fundamental duties: 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.

However, the Trump Administration’s DOJ previously declared that they would block states and the victims and survivors they serve from these funds unless they comply with the Administration’s political agenda – namely its extreme and unpopular immigration enforcement priorities. In order to receive these funds, States were told that they must devote resources to assisting 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 these 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 requirement that States assist DHS in immigration enforcement.

This lawsuit is being co-led by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha. In addition to Attorney General Ellison, it is joined by the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.