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Attorney General Raúl Torrez Announces Key Victory in Multi-State Lawsuit Against Trump Administration’s Imposition of Illegal Conditions on Victims of Crime Act Grants

• October 3, 2025

Albuquerque, NM – After filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in August, Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced today that the U.S. DOJ has dropped its plan to impose illegal conditions on nearly $1.4 billion in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants. Attorney General Torrez, alongside 20 attorneys general, filed the lawsuit after the Trump Administration – disregarding the clear letter of the law and intent of Congress – declared that states would be unable to access these funds unless they agreed to support the administration’s extreme immigration enforcement efforts.

“As a career prosecutor I have always fought to ensure victims have the resources, respect, and support they deserve. This lawsuit was never about politics — it was about protecting nearly $1.4 billion in critical funding for victims of crime,” said Attorney General Raúl Torrez. “This victory allows us to honor our commitment to crime victims and their families, and it is something that I will always fight for.”

The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) was enacted in 1984 by President Ronald Regan, creating a series of grant programs to enable the states to provide critical resources and services to victims and survivors of crime as they try to restore normalcy in their lives. These resources include:

• Victim and witness advocacy services
• Emergency shelter
• Medical expenses
• Funeral expenses
• Burial expenses
• Crime scene cleanup
• Sexual assault exams
• …and more These funds have long ensured that states could fulfill their most fundamental duties, to protect public safety and redress harm to their residents. Not only do the states use these funds to assist nearly nine million crime victims per year, but also 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.

The Trump Administration, through the DOJ, previously declared that States, along with the victims and survivors they serve, would be blocked from these funds unless they comply with the Administration’s political agenda – namely its immigration enforcement priorities. In order to receive these funds, States were 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.

Following the lawsuit brought forward by the coalition, the DOJ abandoned its plan to impose these conditions on the almost $1.4 billion in VOCA grants, including $178 million in VOCA Victim Assistance Grants and $1.2 billion in VOCA Victim Compensation grants. These grants will continue to be provided to states with no requirement that States assist DHS in immigration enforcement.

New Mexico joined the lawsuit, which is led by the attorneys general of New Jersey, California, Delaware, Illinois and Rhode Island, alongside the attorneys general of Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

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