The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is dropping its plan to withhold $1.4 billion in Victims of Crime Act grants for states, including Maine.
State Attorney General Aaron Frey says the money is being released after previously being tied to the Trump administration’s demand that states assist in federal immigration enforcement.
States had been 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.
Maine joined a 20-state lawsuit last week to oppose what it called “ illegal conditions” attached to the funding.
Frey announced Monday that the Department of Justice has backed down from withholding Victims of Crime Act grants, which are used to support victims and survivors of crimes.
“This outcome confirms that funding appropriated by Congress to support crime victims is not a bargaining chip for the Trump Administration to commandeer state resources,” said Attorney General Frey. “This litigation exposed that there was absolutely no legal justification for the DOJ’s attempt to condition receipt of victim programming funds, and it further validates the role of states like Maine acting as a check on an overreaching federal government.”
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 resources and services to victims and survivors of crime to help them recover.
