Los Angeles.- A coalition of twenty Democratic states and the District of Columbia sued this Wednesday a policy of the Government of President Donald Trump that prohibits using security grants to provide legal services to undocumented immigrants.
The legal complaint targets a recent ban established by the U.S. Department of Justice that imposes restrictions on states that receive federal funds to provide services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, human trafficking, and elder abuse.
This restriction, referred to as ‘unallowable costs,’ stipulates that funds from multiple grants, including those allocated by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), cannot be used to support or provide legal services to any undocumented or foreign national subject to deportation, with some limited exceptions.
In the lawsuit filed today in Rhode Island, the coalition of Democratic states alleges that the ban violates the Spending Clause designated in the United States Constitution.
Furthermore, the provision ambiguously restricts ‘legal services’ without specifying the types of services subject to the measure, which leaves states and their grantees with the ‘task of guessing’ which services are covered, argues the legal complaint.
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They also allege that the measure will require states to implement onerous processes to verify the immigration status of all clients before being able to offer services.
The legal support provided by VOCA and VAWA funds includes assistance with filing police reports and protection orders; applying for compensation and assistance with parental visits, among others.
“The Trump Administration continues to push policies that make our communities less safe,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is part of the lawsuit, said in a statement.
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The prosecutor indicated that “the new and vague condition” of the Department of Justice would force organizations to drastically reduce their services, knowing that they could still fail to meet the demands and end up in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration.
“I wish President Trump would stop creating problems where there are none and focus his energy on policies that actually reduce crime and protect public safety,” Bonta added.
In addition to California, the lawsuit was filed by New York, Colorado, Illinois, Rhode Island, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
