A federal judge has barred the US Justice Department from making immigration enforcement cooperation a condition for states to receive federal funding for law enforcement and juvenile justice programmes, handing a significant setback to the Trump administration.
Chief US District Judge John McConnell, sitting in Providence, Rhode Island, ruled in favour of 22 states and the District of Columbia, which challenged the administration’s move to attach immigration-related requirements to federal grants.
The court struck down the disputed conditions imposed on two grant programmes and issued a permanent injunction preventing the Justice Department from enforcing them.
McConnell said existing law restricted the department’s authority to introduce such conditions into grant programmes structured around funding formulas established by Congress.
“The law in this circuit is clear that Congress’s decision to impose a formula structure on a grant program constrains DOJ’s authority to add the immigration enforcement conditions at issue here,” the judge observed.
New Jersey, which spearheaded the legal challenge, welcomed the decision. State Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said the ruling exposed the administration’s attempt to impose unlawful restrictions on essential law enforcement funding.
The Justice Department did not immediately comment on the decision.
Immigration conditions under judicial scrutiny
The ruling adds to a growing series of legal challenges against the Trump administration’s efforts to use federal funding as leverage to advance its immigration policies.
The dispute initially emerged in August 2025, when the administration sought to impose immigration-related conditions on more than $1.3 billion in grants under the Victims of Crime Act. The funding supports services for people affected by criminal offences.
Following the lawsuit, the administration abandoned its plan to restrict access to that funding. However, the Justice Department subsequently introduced similar conditions across three other federal grant programmes, prompting the states to expand their legal challenge.
The programmes at issue include the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program and grants administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The Justice Department had also imposed conditions on Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Formula Grants, which provide financial assistance to state and local governments for criminal justice initiatives. The states said they received approximately $80 million through the Byrne JAG programme in the 2025 fiscal year.
However, McConnell’s latest ruling was limited to the two programmes before him. The Justice Department maintained that an injunction issued in litigation during Trump’s first presidency already prevented it from imposing similar immigration-related conditions on Byrne JAG funding.
States challenged federal authority
Under the disputed requirements, grant recipients would have been required to provide federal authorities access to individuals suspected of being unlawfully present in the United States while they were in state custody. States would also have been required to notify the Department of Homeland Security when such individuals were released.
The states argued that the Justice Department had exceeded its statutory authority by attaching immigration enforcement obligations to funding intended for other purposes.
They also challenged the conditions under the US Constitution’s Spending Clause, which grants Congress authority over federal spending.
The court’s decision reinforces the limits on the executive branch’s ability to reshape congressionally established funding programmes through additional conditions.
The case is State of New Jersey v. United States Department of Justice, pending before the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
