August 24, 2025
Amanda Perobelli/Reuters via Imagn Images
[Subscription Customers Only] Jul 13, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; U.S. President Donald Trump on the pitch during the trophy presentation after the final of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at MetLife Stadium.
A lawsuit filed by a group of states Monday targeting the Trump administration is the 33rd complaint New Jersey has joined against the administration since Donald Trump retook the White House in January.
Attorney General Matt Platkin is among the plaintiffs on lawsuits challenging Trump on everything from his executive order on birthright citizenship to funding conditions for transportation grants to data on food stamp recipients.
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The newest lawsuit seeks to block a Trump administration move stripping more than $1 billion in federal aid from states that shield undocumented immigrants from detention and deportation. The funds are intended for victims and survivors of crime, to pay for medical and burial expenses, advocacy services, emergency shelters, and more.
Platkin, who has been criticized by New Jersey Republicans for his lawsuits against the Trump administration, said Monday the claims in the latest complaint against the White House show the administration doesn't really care about the public safety of people who are victims and survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence, gun violence, sexual abuse, and more.
'They try to find political pawns to force states and cities to change their policies in ways that they can't win through the political process,' he said.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Rhode Island, argues that the administration's move to block funds approved as part of the Victims of Crime Act 'runs headlong into two basic principles of American governance: separation of powers and federalism.'
The Victims of Crime Act was enacted in 1984 under President Ronald Reagan after a presidential task force concluded that the criminal justice system was wrongfully neglecting crime victims, according to the complaint.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who also joined Monday's lawsuit, said the 1984 law was an effort to help states support survivors and witnesses of crime by providing resources to help those in need recover.
'These are individuals who've survived traumatic, tragic, dangerous circumstances and deserve every opportunity to move forward regardless of where they're from,' Bonta said. 'It builds trust between the community and law enforcement that's vital to protecting our public safety, so that when someone does experience or witness a crime, they feel safe to report it to law enforcement without fear of deportation.'
Congress has mandated that victim assistance grants distributed pursuant to the law be based on fixed statutory formulas. Since 2020, New Jersey has received $29 million in these funds, the complaint says. Last year, the funds were used to support about 433,000 victims, it says.
'These are not just dollars. They are shelters, they are hotlines, they are funding for rape kits, they are funding for new locks on broken doors, and they are medical expenses,' Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said.
The Trump administration has made it a priority to detain and deport millions of undocumented immigrants, and has threatened to withhold other federal grants to try to force states to withdraw any orders that provide sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive, unveiled in 2018, restricts cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents.
New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence T. McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com.
