By CLAUDIA LAUER and MIKE CATALINI

A coalition of attorneys general from 20 states, including Nevada, is asking a federal judge to stop the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from withholding federal funds earmarked for crime victims if states don’t cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.

The DOJ conditions were placed on funding from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), which provides more than a billion dollars annually to states for victim compensation programs and grants that fund victim assistance organizations. VOCA funding comes entirely from fines and penalties in federal court cases, not from tax dollars.

During the 2024 fiscal year, more than $24 million in VOCA funding was allocated to 58 organizations in Nevada. The majority of these were “multiservice” agencies or domestic and family violence organizations. Nearly 57,000 people were served in fiscal year 2024, the majority of whom were female. 

The lawsuit filed Monday in Rhode Island federal court seeks to block the Justice Department from enforcing conditions that would cut funding to a state or subgrantee if it refuses to honor civil immigration enforcement requests, denies U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers access to facilities or fails to provide advance notice of release dates of individuals possibly wanted by ICE because of their immigration status. 

Nevada has no prohibitions on cooperation between law enforcement and immigration officials,though the state was placed on a list of "sanctuary" jurisdictions last week, and the DOJ has not explained why.

The lawsuit asks that the conditions be thrown out, arguing that the administration and the agency are overstepping their constitutional and administrative authority.

The lawsuit also argues that the requirements are not permitted or outlined in VOCA, and would interfere with policies created to ensure victims and witnesses report crimes without fear of deportation.

“President Trump is harming victims and survivors of crime in Nevada,” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said in a statement. "It is despicable that President Trump is using vital funding to play political games. He is putting victims and survivors of crime in even more precarious situations when what they deserve is help with regaining a sense of normalcy.” 

“These people did not ask for this status as a crime victim. They don’t breakdown neatly across partisan lines, but they share one common trait, which is that they’ve suffered an unimaginable trauma,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said during a video news conference Monday, calling the administration’s threat to withhold funds “the most heinous act” he’s seen in politics.

Every state and territory has a victim compensation program that follows federal guidelines, but largely is set up under state law to provide financial help to crime victims, including medical expense reimbursement, paying for crime scene cleanup, counseling or helping with funeral costs for homicide victims. VOCA covers the cost of about 75 percent of state compensation program awards. 

In Nevada, more than 2,500 victim compensation claims were made under the program in fiscal year 2024, amounting to nearly $6 million in claims. The majority of claims in the state were paid to women who were victims of assault. 

The funds are also used to pay for other services, including testing rape kits, funding grants to domestic violence recovery organizations, trauma recovery centers and more.

Advocates and others argue that the system needs to protect victims regardless of their immigration status and ensure that reporting a crime does not lead to deportation threats. They also say that marginalized communities, such as newly arrived immigrants, are more likely to be crime targets.

The Associated Press left a message seeking comment from a DOJ spokesperson Monday afternoon.

President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to withhold or pull back other federal funding or grant funding midstream, saying awardees and programs no longer agree with its priorities. In April, it canceled about $800 million in DOJ grants, some of which were awarded to victim service and survivor organizations.

And in June, Nevada and other states filed an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit challenging Trump administration requirements that Violence Against Women Act funding be withheld unless applicants agreed not to promote “gender ideology,” or run diversity, equity and inclusion programs or prioritize people in the country illegally.

Several attorneys general said the VOCA conditions appear to be another way the administration is targeting so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, though there is no clear definition of what a sanctuary state or city is.

The Trump administration earlier this month released an updated list of states, cities and counties it considers sanctuary jurisdictions, including Nevada. 

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the August announcement that the department would “continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.”

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo posted on X after the state was included on the sanctuary list that “Nevada is not a sanctuary state and will never be a sanctuary jurisdiction under Governor Lombardo.” 

As of Monday afternoon, attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin — all Democrats — had signed on to the lawsuit.