A coalition of 20 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., sued the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday in federal court in Rhode Island, seeking to block the Trump administration from adding immigration-enforcement requirements to Victims of Crime Act grants. The complaint, filed as State of N.J. v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-00404), asks the court for an injunction preventing the new conditions from taking effect. Under a policy announced in February by Attorney General Pam Bondi, states risk losing VOCA funds unless they give U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unfettered access to facilities, honor all civil immigration detainers and provide advance notice of inmate releases. The plaintiff states argue that the mandate exceeds DOJ’s statutory authority, violates the Spending Clause and undermines the constitutional separation of powers by forcing states to carry out federal immigration objectives. The disputed program distributes more than $1 billion in FY2025 to support medical care, counseling and other services for crime victims; the suing jurisdictions say they stand to lose roughly $675 million if they refuse to comply. Applications for the funding are due Aug. 20. Monday’s filing is the latest in a series of legal challenges to Trump administration efforts to tie federal grants—including those for homelessness, transit and nutrition programs—to cooperation with immigration enforcement. The Justice Department declined to comment.