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A federal judge in Rhode Island permanently blocked the Trump administration from enforcing immigration-cooperation conditions on public safety grants for the states that challenged them, including New Jersey, The Jersey Vindicator reported Wednesday.
Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr., of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, ruled that the Justice Department exceeded its authority by attaching the requirements to funding Congress created for state and local criminal justice programs, the report said.
The ruling covers the plaintiff states, not a blanket nationwide prohibition on all immigration-related grant rules. The coalition included New Jersey, 21 other states and the District of Columbia, according to the Vindicator.
For police departments, prosecutors and public safety programs in the plaintiff states, the decision protects access to the affected grants without accepting the challenged immigration conditions. It does not establish that New Jersey had already lost the money or that funds have now been newly paid out.
What the conditions required
The administration sought cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including access to people held in state custody, advance notice of certain releases and compliance with immigration-information requirements, according to the report.
The states argued that those conditions forced a choice between public safety funding and their own policies on assisting federal civil immigration enforcement. They also disputed whether Congress had authorized the Justice Department to impose those conditions.
The grants at issue include the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, which supports police departments, prosecutors, crime prevention and other criminal justice work.
New Jersey’s funding at stake
The Vindicator, citing court documents, reported that New Jersey was allocated about $4.2 million in Byrne grants for fiscal 2025 and another $2.7 million through a related crisis-intervention program.
A separate August 21 statement from New Jersey’s attorney general described the expanded lawsuit and said the state had received more than $21 million in Byrne JAG funding from fiscal 2019 through 2024. That statement provides background on the challenge, rather than independent confirmation of Wednesday’s ruling.
The state said those grants support officer protective equipment, drug-trafficking investigations, Megan’s Law enforcement and efforts to locate violent criminals. The lawsuit also concerns crisis-intervention and youth-justice funding.
The Vindicator reported that the dispute initially involved conditions on Victims of Crime Act funding in 2025. After those conditions were removed, the states expanded their challenge to requirements attached to other Justice Department grants.
JBizNews Desk | New Jersey
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