PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Washington and Oregon have filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department in an effort to unblock funds meant to support survivors of domestic violence and other violent crimes.

The lawsuit – filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island by a group of 20 state attorneys general – challenges a new rule banning states from using Victims of Crime Act, Byrne Justice Assistance Grants and Violence Against Women Act grants to provide certain services to undocumented immigrants and others who cannot prove their status.

In their lawsuit, the attorneys general argue that the new policy blocking the funds violates the Constitution's Spending Clause by attaching “retroactive and ambiguous conditions to grants that were already awarded,” and are asking the court

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