Why Should Delaware Care?
Delaware’s Attorney General secured an agreement with the Trump administration to protect funds meant for thousands of victims of domestic violence and sexual assault after the federal government tried to restrict the money based on immigration status.
The Trump administration agreed to back down from restricting victims’ services funding to states that did not comply with the administration’s immigration agenda after Delaware’s Attorney General filed suit over the decision.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings agreed to a “binding resolution” on Nov. 24, ensuring the Trump administration will not withhold current grant awards earmarked for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.
“This result is a victory for both the rule of law and for survivors everywhere of domestic violence and human trafficking,” Jennings said in a written statement.
In October, the Trump administration threatened to restrict Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) money meant to provide legal services to certain undocumented immigrants.
The administration attempted to bar states from providing services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, if they could not immediately prove their immigration status. The new “Legal Services Condition” applied to both future awards and longstanding grants that had already been issued years before.
As a result, Jennings and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general sued the DOJ, arguing that the new rule was unlawful because eligibility for the programs is not dependent on immigration status. The attorneys general warned that forcing victims to prove their immigration status before getting help would be “dangerous and potentially impossible” while also imposing severe burdens on service providers to track the information.
The lawsuit stemmed from a Feb. 5 memo sent by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordering the DOJ to withhold any federal grants to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that “interfere” with federal immigration enforcement.
In response to the agreement, a U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson said the agency will continue to ensure taxpayer dollars are used for services that directly benefit Americans and lawful residents to prevent American taxpayers from being treated “like second-class citizens.”
The agreement protects current funds, but it’s unclear if the Trump administration could threaten to withhold future victims’ services grants based on the same restriction. Following the agreement, the coalition of attorneys general voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit but retained the ability to refile if the Trump administration tries to revive the rule in the future.
Mallary Willatt, managing attorney of the Medical-Legal Partnership, Domestic Violence, and Immigration Unit at Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI), applauded the outcome of Jennings’ lawsuit, describing it as a win for all Delawareans.
“Access to services that ensure crime victims’ safety should never be conditioned on a victim’s status,” Willatt said in a written statement.
The new federal rule would have made everyone in Delaware less safe by discouraging victims from coming forward, reporting crimes and accessing legal resources, Willatt added. CLASI provides free civil legal assistance to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other violent crimes in Delaware.
Jennings emphasized that Delaware’s Victims Compensation Assistance Program (VCAP), which is largely funded by VOCA, does not collect immigration information from applicants.
The funding can be used to pay for medical expenses, burial costs and mental health counseling, among other crime-related expenses. Beneficiaries of the program include victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking – including kids.
During the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in June, the program granted more than 3,000 payments to and on behalf of victims in Delaware, totaling more than $3 million in assistance, according to VCAP’s 2025 annual report.
This spring, the Delaware Department of Justice used VCAP funds to rescue a victim of domestic violence who was on the verge of being deported back to her abuser in Central America. Representatives with Jennings’ office traveled to Louisiana to accompany the woman out of immigration detention and back to her family in Delaware.
The program’s funding comes, in part, from a surcharge imposed by Delaware courts on fines and fees. No tax dollars are used to fund the program, according to the 2025 VCAP report.
Congress has distributed nearly all VOCA funds to states based on fixed formulas since the law was enacted in 1984. From 2021 to 2024, the 21 states filing the lawsuit used VOCA funds to help, on average, more than 8.5 million crime victims per year, according to the lawsuit.