Attorney General Phil Weiser fights Trump administration for $1B in federal funds to support crime victims

Aug. 18, 2025 (DENVER) – Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in suing the Trump administration for illegally imposing conditions on congressionally-authorized Victims of Crime Act grants. The Trump administration, disregarding the clear letter of the law and intent of Congress, has declared that states will not be able to access these funds used to support victims and survivors of crimes unless they agree to support the administration’s extreme immigration enforcement efforts.

“Tying congressionally mandated funds for crime victim support to immigration conditions not authorized by Congress is wrong and an illegal overreach by the Justice Department. Withholding these funds will retraumatize crime victims and survivors who are trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives. And this stunning action by the administration does not make communities safer,” said Attorney General Weiser. “We sued in the first Trump administration when it attempted a similar tactic with law enforcement grants, and we won. I’m confident we’ll win again.”

The Victims of Crime Act, or VOCA, enacted in 1984, provides a series of grant programs to enable states to deliver critical resources and services to victims and survivors of crime as they try to restore their lives. These services include victim and witness advocacy services, emergency shelter, crime scene cleanup, sexual assault forensic exams, and medical, funeral, and burial expenses.

These funding streams totaling more than a billion dollars a year nationwide have long ensured that states could assist nearly 9 million crime victims per year and 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. In 2024, Colorado’s Office for Victims Programs received just over $21 million in VOCA funds.

The Trump administration, however, through the Justice Department, declared that states, along with the victims and survivors they serve, will be blocked from these funds unless they comply with the administration’s immigration enforcement priorities. To receive these funds, states must assist the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with civil immigration enforcement efforts – a federal, not state government responsibility.

This directive conflicts with core principles of American government – the separation of powers and federalism. Congress did not authorize the Justice Department to impose conditions on these grant programs that force states to devote their resources to carry out the administration’s civil immigration agenda. The coalition is requesting that the court permanently enjoin the Trump administration from implementing or enforcing these illegal conditions.

Attorney General Weiser joins New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, and the attorneys general of Connecticut, Hawai’i, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia in filing this lawsuit.

Read a copy of the lawsuit (PDF).

###

Media Contact:
Lawrence Pacheco
Chief Communications Officer
(720) 508-6553 office
lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov