Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that will prevent new restrictions from being applied to Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) services for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. The decision follows a lawsuit filed last month by Ellison and 20 other attorneys general, challenging DOJ conditions that would have cut off legal services for survivors unable to immediately prove their immigration status.
The DOJ has now agreed not to enforce these restrictions on states’ VOCA Victim Assistance and VAWA funds, ensuring continued support for survivors regardless of immigration status.
“Today’s agreement ensures that crime victims who cannot immediately prove their immigration status will continue to receive essential support, including emergency shelter, help applying for protective orders, and so much more,” said Attorney General Ellison. “Often times, survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking lack access to documentation proving their citizenship, and criminals often withhold access to those documents as a means of continuing their abuse. Furthermore, public safety is improved for all of us when all crime victims are able to report those crimes and seek assistance, no matter their immigration status. While I am glad that we reached this agreement with the Department of Justice, it is sad that such an agreement was necessary in the first place. I will do everything I can to continue defending essential resources for crime victims, improve public safety, and defend the rule of law.”
For many years, VAWA and VOCA programs have provided funding for states to assist survivors through services like legal representation in protective order cases, custody matters, housing aid, relocation assistance, civil legal help, and rape crisis centers.
Over the past four years in Minnesota alone, more than $87 million was awarded through VOCA grants for victim assistance and compensation. In fiscal year 2024 these funds supported about 64,000 individuals who were either victims or witnesses of crimes or family members affected by them. Services funded include safety planning, crisis intervention, emergency shelter access to financial aid applications for protective orders transportation court-related support accompaniment during hearings support groups among others.
The coalition’s lawsuit was prompted after DOJ told states they could no longer use VAWA or VOCA funding for legal services benefitting undocumented immigrants—a restriction that would have applied retroactively as well as moving forward. Attorneys general argued this would place significant burdens on service providers who typically do not verify immigration status and could endanger survivors by requiring proof before providing help.
Following the legal challenge from Ellison’s coalition—which included attorneys general from Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Illinois Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York Oregon Vermont Rhode Island Washington District Columbia—the DOJ agreed not to apply these restrictions at this time. The lawsuit has been voluntarily dismissed but may be refiled if similar conditions are imposed again in future.
