California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over new immigration enforcement requirements tied to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, challenges the federal government’s move to require states to assist with federal immigration enforcement as a condition for receiving VOCA funds.
These grants, totaling over $1 billion annually, are distributed to states to support victims and survivors of crime, including those affected by domestic violence. California is expected to receive more than $165 million in VOCA grant funds for fiscal year 2025.
Attorney General Bonta stated: “Yet again, the Trump Administration is attempting to bully states into participating in their inhumane and frenzied immigration agenda. This time, the President is holding hostage over a billion dollars in grants that states use to ensure victims and survivors of crime can access emergency shelter, sexual assault forensic exams, counseling, and other essential services to help reclaim their lives after tragedy. These actions are not only morally wrong — they are also illegal. Only Congress has the power of the purse and the power to condition these funds. This brazen attempt to use funding that supports our most vulnerable residents to strong-arm California and states nationwide into doing the federal government’s job for it, is blatantly beyond the power of the President. We’ll see him in court.”
Congress has required since 1984 that nearly all VOCA funds be distributed based on fixed statutory formulas. For fiscal year 2025, more than $178 million from the Crime Victims Fund will be available under the Victim Compensation Formula Grant, while over $1.2 billion will be awarded through the Victim Assistance Formula Grant.
In July 2025, however, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), which administers VOCA grants within DOJ, announced that states must now agree to broadly support federal immigration enforcement activities before accessing these funds.
VOCA grants play a significant role in California’s victim assistance efforts across 35 programs. These include services provided by the California Department of Justice’s Victims’ Services Unit (VSU), which assisted 1,285 individuals during fiscal year 2023-24; Victim Witness Assistance Centers located at district attorney’s offices statewide that served over 279,000 people; and the Domestic Violence Assistance Program supporting nearly 119,000 individuals through non-government organizations.
If VOCA funding lapses or is disrupted due to these new conditions, state victim service programs could face sudden interruptions impacting services such as medical care, funeral expenses coverage, counseling, emergency shelter provision and other critical support for victims and survivors.
The lawsuit argues that requiring states to comply with immigration enforcement as a grant condition exceeds DOJ’s legal authority and violates constitutional limits on federal spending powers.
California law has drawn clear lines between local criminal law enforcement and federal civil immigration enforcement—such as through measures like SB 54—to encourage crime victims and witnesses to report crimes without fear of deportation and maintain trust between communities and law enforcement agencies.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Bonta filed two lawsuits challenging similar requirements attached by the Trump Administration on grants from both Homeland Security and Transportation departments.
Joining California in this latest legal action are attorneys general from New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, Illinois, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington State Wisconsin as well as officials from the District of Columbia.
