By Liz Nass
Gongwer News Service
Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Justice is dropping its plan to add conditions for the Victims of Crime Act grants, securing a win in one of the multistate lawsuits, and she is planning to file another.
The department dropped a plan from earlier this year to block access to funds from VOCA grants unless the state enforced President Donald Trump’s immigration priorities.
During the past five years, Michigan received between $27 million and $43 million per year to send to victim service organizations including child advocacy centers, sexual assault nurse examiner programs, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, anti-human trafficking organizations and legal services.
“As Michigan’s attorney general, one of my main responsibilities is to protect crime victims and fight for their justice,” Nessel said in a statement. “The Trump administration’s attempt to place unlawful conditions on critical VOCA funding threatened to deny survivors the support they need to heal and rebuild their lives. Those conditions would have also required that victims’ detailed personal information be shared with the federal government when demanded — a blatant invasion of privacy that would have been used to target victims themselves rather than their abusers. I am relieved this effort has been abandoned.”
The plan the department abandoned amid the lawsuit included a blockage of $178 million in VOCA Victim Assistance grants and $1.2 billion in VOCA Victim Compensation grants.
A new lawsuit with a coalition of 21 states was filed last week to block restrictions that would stop grant funds to provide legal services under VOCA to undocumented immigrants or those who cannot prove their status.
The states said this is “unconstitutional, violates the Administrative Procedures Act, and directly conflicts with DOJ’s own regulations.”
“Telling crime victims that they don’t deserve legal help or access to a lawyer or protection because of their immigration status is cruel and dangerous,” Nessel said in a statement. “It is not only inhumane – it makes all of us less safe by silencing victims and shielding abusers from accountability. While the Trump administration may turn its back on vulnerable survivors, my office will stand up for those in need and the safety of Michiganders.”
Nessel and the states said this would discourage victims from seeking help, according to the lawsuit. The states also say the service providers may not even have the capacity for screening processes like this.
The states filed a motion for preliminary injunction.
Gongwer News Service
Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Justice is dropping its plan to add conditions for the Victims of Crime Act grants, securing a win in one of the multistate lawsuits, and she is planning to file another.
The department dropped a plan from earlier this year to block access to funds from VOCA grants unless the state enforced President Donald Trump’s immigration priorities.
During the past five years, Michigan received between $27 million and $43 million per year to send to victim service organizations including child advocacy centers, sexual assault nurse examiner programs, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, anti-human trafficking organizations and legal services.
“As Michigan’s attorney general, one of my main responsibilities is to protect crime victims and fight for their justice,” Nessel said in a statement. “The Trump administration’s attempt to place unlawful conditions on critical VOCA funding threatened to deny survivors the support they need to heal and rebuild their lives. Those conditions would have also required that victims’ detailed personal information be shared with the federal government when demanded — a blatant invasion of privacy that would have been used to target victims themselves rather than their abusers. I am relieved this effort has been abandoned.”
The plan the department abandoned amid the lawsuit included a blockage of $178 million in VOCA Victim Assistance grants and $1.2 billion in VOCA Victim Compensation grants.
A new lawsuit with a coalition of 21 states was filed last week to block restrictions that would stop grant funds to provide legal services under VOCA to undocumented immigrants or those who cannot prove their status.
The states said this is “unconstitutional, violates the Administrative Procedures Act, and directly conflicts with DOJ’s own regulations.”
“Telling crime victims that they don’t deserve legal help or access to a lawyer or protection because of their immigration status is cruel and dangerous,” Nessel said in a statement. “It is not only inhumane – it makes all of us less safe by silencing victims and shielding abusers from accountability. While the Trump administration may turn its back on vulnerable survivors, my office will stand up for those in need and the safety of Michiganders.”
Nessel and the states said this would discourage victims from seeking help, according to the lawsuit. The states also say the service providers may not even have the capacity for screening processes like this.
The states filed a motion for preliminary injunction.
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