Federal judge blocks Trump administration from tying police grants to immigration enforcement

NJ, 21 other states challenged restrictions on federal funding used for crime prevention, police equipment, mental health programs, and juvenile justice

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from requiring states to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement to receive public safety grants, protecting millions of dollars New Jersey uses for police equipment, investigations of gang activity, mental health programs, and other law enforcement initiatives.

Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice exceeded its authority by attaching immigration enforcement requirements to grants Congress established to support state and local criminal justice programs.

The ruling permanently prohibits the federal government from enforcing certain conditions on the states that brought the lawsuit. New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport helped lead the coalition, which included 21 other states and the District of Columbia.

Federal funding for programs including the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program that supports police departments, prosecutors, crime prevention initiatives, and other criminal justice activities is at stake in the case.

Court documents show New Jersey was allocated about $4.2 million in Byrne grants for fiscal year 2025. Another $2.7 million was allocated through a related crisis intervention program supporting mental health services and violence prevention.

The Trump administration had required grant recipients to cooperate with federal immigration authorities by providing access to people in state custody suspected of violating immigration laws, notifying federal officials before their release, and complying with requirements concerning immigration-related information.

States argued that the restrictions improperly forced them to choose between federal public safety funding and their own policies governing cooperation with immigration authorities.

The lawsuit also challenged the administration’s authority to impose conditions unrelated to the purposes Congress established for the grants.

“Today’s victory in court makes clear that the federal government cannot unlawfully politicize law enforcement and public safety by threatening our access to critical funding,” Davenport said in a statement Wednesday.

She said the funding helps pay for protective equipment for officers, investigations into drug trafficking, the enforcement of Megan’s Law, and efforts to locate violent criminals.

“We will continue to fight the Administration’s brazenly unlawful actions that put politics over public safety,” Davenport said.

How New Jersey uses the money

The lawsuit provides a detailed accounting of how New Jersey has used federal criminal justice grants in recent years.

Between fiscal years 2019 and 2024, the state received more than $21 million through the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program, according to the coalition’s amended complaint.

The money supported anti-gang and narcotics task forces operated by all 21 county prosecutors’ offices, including purchases of protective equipment and funding for undercover drug investigations.

Grants also supported an anti-corruption initiative within the state Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, additional staffing, law enforcement training, community policing programs, and the purchase of body cameras for municipal police departments.

Other funding helped maintain sex offender registries, enforce Megan’s Law, and support the State Police ballistics laboratory.

New Jersey also received more than $8.3 million in crisis intervention grants for fiscal years 2022 through 2024.

According to the lawsuit, the state planned to use that funding to expand its ARRIVE Together program, which pairs police officers with mental health professionals to respond to behavioral health emergencies.

The money was also intended to support training and public education about extreme risk protection orders, which allow courts to temporarily restrict firearm access for people considered a danger to themselves or others.

The lawsuit did not establish that New Jersey had already lost the funding. Instead, the states challenged conditions they would have been required to accept to access the grants.

A continuing fight over immigration enforcement

The dispute began in 2025, when the Trump administration imposed immigration-related requirements on more than $1.3 billion in federal funding distributed under the Victims of Crime Act.

A coalition of states challenged those restrictions, and the federal government subsequently removed them from that funding program.

The Justice Department later imposed similar conditions on other grants, including those supporting law enforcement, crisis intervention, and juvenile justice programs. New Jersey and the other states expanded their lawsuit to challenge those requirements.

In their amended complaint, filed Aug. 21, the states argued that Congress had established formulas and eligibility requirements for distributing the grants without authorizing the Justice Department to condition funding on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. They also argued that the administration’s requirements violated constitutional protections against federal coercion of states and federal administrative law. The coalition maintained that states should be able to determine how best to use their own law enforcement resources, including whether local police should assist federal authorities with civil immigration matters.

The case is part of a broader series of legal disputes over the Trump administration’s attempts to use federal funding to encourage state and local governments to cooperate with immigration enforcement.