Wisconsin joins lawsuit against Trump DOJ over immigration requirements for crime victim funds
The Victims of Crime Act, enacted by Congress in 1984, created a mechanism for distributing fines and fees collected in federal criminal cases. It does not use tax money. Those funds are distributed to states, which typically award money through a grant process to agencies and nonprofits that help victims.
The money has funded victim advocates, sexual assault forensic exams, emergency shelters and reimbursed victims for medical and funeral costs, among other services.
An existing shortfall in VOCA funding already had providers on edge, worried about meeting the essential needs of victims. Now, Wisconsin and other states argue the Trump administration is forcing them into an "untenable position," according to the lawsuit.
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"Either forfeit access to critical resources for vulnerable crime victims and their families, or accept unlawful conditions, allowing the federal government to conscript state and local officials to enforce federal immigration law and destroying trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities that is critical to preventing and responding to crime," the lawsuit says.
VOCA does not contain language that authorizes the U.S. DOJ to impose such funding conditions, nor does any other federal law passed by Congress, according to the lawsuit.
A media representative from the U.S. DOJ declined to comment on the lawsuit Aug. 19.
Wisconsin could lose more than $24 million if it does not comply with the immigration requirements, according to the state's Department of Justice.
'VOCA funding is intended to be used to help victims of crime,' said Attorney General Josh Kaul in a news release. 'It is appalling that the Trump administration is weaponizing this funding.'
Like Kaul, the other attorneys general who have signed on to the lawsuit are Democrats. The lawsuit was filed Aug. 18 in federal court in Rhode Island.
An earlier lawsuit from nonprofit organizations, including two in Wisconsin, argued the U.S. DOJ's Office on Violence Against Women had similarly overstepped its authority when it listed new grant conditions related to immigration enforcement and "gender ideology."
Those nonprofit organizations recently received a preliminary stay of those grant conditions, while the lawsuit remains pending.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Josh Kaul joins lawsuit against Trump DOJ over crime victim funds
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