“In America, the Law is King” Was a Powerful Message at the October 18 2025 NO KINGS Rally in Portland.
Attorney General Aaron M. Frey today secured an agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) ensuring DOJ will not apply alarming restrictions to critical Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) services supporting survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Last month, AG Frey and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general sued DOJ over unlawful new conditions that threatened to cut off critical legal services for survivors who could not immediately prove their immigration status. As a result of the lawsuit, DOJ reversed course and today agreed to a binding resolution guaranteeing the federal government will not appy the restrictions to states’ VOCA Victim Assistance and VAWA funds and ensuring that survivors can continue to rely on these crucial supports, regardless of immigration status.
“Programming funded by VOCA and VAWA support survivors in some of their most vulnerable and traumatic moments,” said AG Frey. “Using these funds to further a cruel, inhumane, immigration policy was unconscionable and I am deeply relieved that my colleagues and I could hold the Administration to account to ensure these funds go to survivors as intended.”
In October, the coalition filed a lawsuit after DOJ informed states that they could no longer use VAWA or VOCA funding o provide legal services to undocumented immigrants. The new “Legal Services Condition” applied not only to future awards, but also to grants that had already been issued, some dating back years. The attorneys general warned that the restriction would impose severe burdens on service providers, who do not collect or verify immigrantion status, and that forcing survivors to produce proof of status before receiving help would be dangerous and potentially impossible.
As a result of the attorneys general’s lawsuit, DOJ has now agreed that the challenged restriction cannot and will not be applied to any current VOCA Victim Assistance or VAWA grant awards. Based on this binding stipulation, AG Frey and the coalition are voluntarily dismissisng their lawsuit without prejudice, preserving the ability to refile if DOJ attempts to review this unlawful restriction in the future.