Attorney General Peter F. Neronha co-led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit in Rhode Island against the Trump Administration over the imposition of illegal conditions on more than $1 billion in Congressionally-authorized funds for Victims of Crime Act grant recipients. The Trump Administration, disregarding the law and the intent of Congress, has declared that states will be unable to access these funds – used to support victims and survivors of crimes – unless they agree to support the Trump Administration’s extreme immigration enforcement efforts.

“When the U.S. Department of Justice is actively preventing Americans from receiving – justice – we have a problem. We’ve seen this before, DOJ threatening to unlawfully withhold critical federal funding for things like disaster relief and safe roads and bridges. Now, the department tasked with ensuring justice for all is targeting victims and survivors as they attempt to navigate some of the most difficult times of their lives. And their supposed reasoning here is unfounded: Rhode Island consistently cooperates with all federal law enforcement agencies, as required by federal law. What we won’t, and can’t do legally, is divert important state law enforcement resources to do the federal government’s civil immigration law bidding." – AG Neronha