US Judge Rules DOJ Cannot Link States’ Grant Funding to Immigration Enforcement

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected an effort by the US Justice Department to require several Democratic-led states to cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement ​efforts in order to receive millions of dollars in grants supporting law enforcement and juvenile justice programs.

Chief US District ‌Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, ruled from the bench in favor of 22 states and the District of Columbia who argued that the conditions the Justice Department imposed on the grants are unlawful.

McConnell, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, struck down the conditions the Justice Department imposed on ​grants from two programs and issued a permanent injunction blocking it from implementing them going forward.

“The law in this circuit ​is clear that Congress’s decision to impose a formula structure on a grant program constrains DOJ’s authority ⁠to add the immigration enforcement conditions at issue here,” the judge said.

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The lawsuit ​began in August 2025 as a challenge to a move by the Trump administration to impose immigration-related conditions on the ability of states ​to access over $1.3 billion in Victims of Crime Act grant funding to support crime victims.

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