Attorney General Clark Joins Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Over Unlawful Immigration Enforcement Conditions on Grant Funding for Victims of Crime  

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to unlawfully impose immigration enforcement requirements on over $1 billion dollars in annual U.S. Department of Justice Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants. These grants are unrelated to federal civil immigration enforcement and are used by states to protect public safety and provide critical resources and services to victims and survivors of crime, including victims of domestic violence. In the lawsuit filed today, the coalition argues that imposing this new set of conditions across VOCA grant programs is arbitrary and capricious, exceeds U.S. DOJ’s legal authority, and violates the Spending Clause. 

“My office has first-hand experience supporting victims of crime in accessing federally-funded programs, which are designed to give victims and survivors of crime greater agency over their own recovery and healing,” said Attorney General Clark. “I am suing to protect this funding for the Vermonters who need it.”

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, including services like victim and witness advocacy, 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. In fiscal year 2025, Vermont was allocated a total of $3,146,916 between the Crime Victims Fund Compensation and the Assistance Allocation.

The U.S. Department of Justice, however, has declared that states, along with the victims and survivors they serve, will be blocked from these funds unless they comply with the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement priorities. In order to receive these funds, states must assist the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with civil immigration enforcement efforts—a federal, not state government responsibility. 

Attorney General Clark and the coalition are requesting that the Court permanently enjoin the Trump Administration from implementing or enforcing these illegal conditions. Joining Attorney General Clark in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the complaint is available at: https://ago.vermont.gov/sites/ago/files/2025-08/Dkt.%20No.%201%20(Complaint).pdf

Today’s lawsuit is the twenty-seventh case overall that Attorney General Clark has brought against the Trump Administration since President Trump took office in January. For more information on actions taken by the Attorney General on behalf of Vermonters, visit our website at ago.vermont.gov/ago-actions.