Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice abandoned its plans to condition crime victim compensation funds on states’ compliance with federal immigration enforcement after attorneys general of 20 states — including Rhode Island — and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the DOJ’s move.
In February, the Trump administration threatened to withhold funds granted by the Victims of Crime Act and the Violence Against Women Act if they did not comply with federal immigration enforcement.
But in early October, $1.4 billion funding was still allocated to the states, with Rhode Island receiving $4.8 million. The DOJ posted its Crime Victims Fund assistance and compensation allocations for fiscal year 2025 to its website.
Organizations that typically receive crime victim funding “would not be able to certify compliance” with federal immigration enforcement putting their grant money at risk, Timothy Rondeau, a spokesperson for the office of R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha P’19 P’22, wrote in an email to The Herald.
For decades, Rhode Islanders have received support from grant programs funded by VOCA and VAWA “regardless of their immigration status,” Rondeau wrote.
Rondeau said VOCA’s two main grants take the form of victim compensation grants — which provide direct financial support to crime victims — and victim assistance grants, which are “almost entirely distributed to nonprofits throughout the state” for additional support to crime victims.
The R.I. Crime Victim Compensation Program, for example, provides a reimbursement of up to $25,000 to Rhode Islanders who have experienced violent crime, such as medical expenses and loss of earnings.
He added that VOCA assistance funds supported dozens of local nonprofits in fiscal year 2024, providing services to over 40,000 Rhode Islanders.
Neronha said that assisting victims of domestic and sexual violence should not “be subject to politically motivated conditions,” and dissuading survivors from reporting “keeps violent criminals on the streets.”
“When a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence seeks help, the first question we ask should not be about their immigration status,” Neronha said in a statement to The Herald, adding that screening for immigration status may not be feasible for all service providers.
“These restrictions are unreasonable, unlawful and we will fight to make sure they are blocked,” he added.
Lucy Rios, the executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, expressed her support for the lawsuit filed by the attorneys general.
Crime survivors without U.S. citizenship status may face many “safety barriers,” including the possibility of deportation when they reach out for help, Rios said. These challenges are compounded by language barriers, which can make it more difficult for certain crime victims to access support services.
If the federal government were to get ahold of data exposing survivors and victims, it “would put a lot of people in danger,” Rios said.
