Michigan’s attorney general has signed onto another multi-state lawsuit against the Trump administration.
This time, it’s over new U.S. Department of Justice requirements for states and groups that receive funding from the federal Victims of Crime Act. The policy would take funding from recipients that don’t give data or records to immigration enforcement upon request.
The lawsuit argues the DOJ can’t add new requirements to funding already outlined in a federal law, the Victims of Crime Act, or VOCA.
“Nothing in VOCA or any other statute authorizes USDOJ to impose immigration-related funding conditions on grant programs intended to support the victims of crime. Because USDOJ lacks the statutory authority to impose these conditions, they are unlawful,” the complaint read.
The lawsuit is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island to block the requirements nationwide.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the policy change is also problematic because state agencies and groups are very protective of crime victim information as part of efforts to gain victims' trust and keep them safe.
“To say now that we have to share it with anybody in the federal government who asks for it as long as it’s for immigration purposes, really, it undercuts and it defeats the whole notion of this kind of privacy that we provide to victims of violent crime,” Nessel said.
In some cases, Michigan law forbids the sharing of addresses for survivors of crimes, like domestic violence or sexual assault, who fear physical danger should their contact information come out.
Nessel’s office said over a hundred organizations in Michigan, like rape crisis and child advocacy centers, could lose out on around $37 million because of the federal policy shift.
“This is critical funding. We are not going to be able to pursue so many different cases without it. And again, that’s going to create just more crime victims because it means that criminal defendants will get off the hook because we won’t be able to prosecute those cases.”
The Justice Department declined to comment on the litigation.
Nessel said this lawsuit is similar to several others Michigan has joined since President Donald Trump took back office.
“All of the money that has been congressionally appropriated to us comes with these terms and conditions that are not part of the statute. And we’ve been winning these cases thus far and I expect that we’ll be successful in this case as well,” Nessel said.
In recent months, her office has sued over cuts to funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, school mental health support, and changes to U.S. Department of Energy grants.
Despite the flurry of activity, Nessel said her office has spent less than $10,000 on the federal lawsuits. In contrast, she said, their success has freed up around $1.6 billion in federal funding.