CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul secured an important legal victory that protects Congressionally-authorized public safety grants, including grants intended to fight crime and keep law enforcement officers safe.
In August, Raoul co-led a coalition of attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to impose illegal immigration-enforcement conditions on public safety funding. On Wednesday, the District of Rhode Island Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. declared the Trump administration’s actions unlawful and permanently enjoined any implementation or enforcement of these illegal conditions.
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“By targeting these funds, the Trump administration threatened to harm state and local law enforcement and put public safety at risk,” Raoul said. “This funding has no relationship to civil immigration enforcement, and I am pleased that the court ruled these conditions unlawful. I will continue to fight to protect public safety funding from overreach by this administration.”
Among the affected programs is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Formula Grants, known as the Byrne JAG Program. For decades, regardless of which political party held power, the Byrne JAG Program has been the leading federal source of criminal justice funding to state and local governments. Congress directed the U.S. Department of Justice to distribute funds based on a state’s population and violent crime rate, not the immigration priorities of the executive branch. The program provides crucial support for law enforcement, including funding for equipment and training. Over the last four fiscal years, Illinois has received a total of more than $25 million in law enforcement funds through this federal program.
This win comes after Raoul co-led a coalition of attorneys general that succeeded in getting the federal government to remove similar conditions on over $1.3 billion of Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants last year. Raoul also co-led a coalition that successfully blocked similar conditions on billions of dollars in annual U.S. Department of Transportation grants last year.
In July, Raoul co-led a coalition in filing a lawsuit challenging the administration’s attempt to impose unlawful conditions on billions of dollars in federal funds that Congress appropriated for states to use in preparing for and responding to emergencies and natural disasters, including acts of terrorism. Raoul filed this lawsuit after co-leading a coalition that successfully defended the same category of funding from unlawful conditions in 2025.
Civil immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and not a state government responsibility. The Trump administration’s unlawful attempts to coerce states into doing its bidding conflict with core principles of American governance – the separation of powers and federalism. The administration’s actions violated laws passed by Congress as well as the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Attorney General Raoul led the lawsuit along with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha. They were joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
