DELMARVA -Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Maryland's Anthony Brown announced Monday that they are part of 21 state attorneys general suing the Trump Administration over tying the Victims of Crime Act grants to states’ cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island federal court, challenges Justice Department requirements that would cut funding to states that refuse to honor immigration enforcement requests, deny ICE access to facilities, or fail to provide advance release notifications for people potentially wanted over immigration status.
“Victims of crime have already been through enough,” Jennings said in a statement. “His illegal attempt to condition victim assistance funding on political compliance would dissuade victims from coming forward, threaten millions of dollars’ worth of services and shelter, and add an unmanageable workload for social workers, police, and prosecutors who are already stretched too thin. We’re not going to let it happen.”
“Nothing is safe from the Trump administration’s political attacks—including funds to help people at their most vulnerable, after they’ve survived a crime,” Brown said. “As Attorney General, public safety is one of my top priorities, and that includes ensuring the federal government makes good on its obligations to crime victims.”
The Justice Department previously identified several dozen jurisdictions as “sanctuary” areas on August 5, a designation used to justify the funding restrictions. At the time, Attorney General Pam Bondi warned that federal officials would continue pressing legal action against such jurisdictions.
“Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design,” she said.
Last week, Bondi sent letters to the governors of California and Oregon warning that their sanctuary policies could violate federal immigration law.
"For too long, so-called sanctuary jurisdiction policies have undermined this necessary cooperation and obstructed federal immigration enforcement, giving aliens cover to perpetrate crimes in our communities and evade the immigration consequences that federal law requires," the letter states.
This lawsuit marks the thirty third time Jennings has sued the administration of the 47th President.