Federal Cuts Disrupt Local Justice Programs, but Communities Push Forward
The Trump administration abruptly terminated hundreds of Justice Department grants in late April, pulling the plug on an estimated half a billion dollars in funding for over 500 organizations across the country, including grassroots anti-violence nonprofits, victim support programs, child advocacy centers, police wellness initiatives, and criminal justice research organizations. The cuts have devastated community-level programs in areas like Baton Rouge and Shreveport, Louisiana, where nonprofits serving Black youth and mothers grieving gun violence lost the bulk of their funding with no warning, forcing them to rely on volunteers and community donations to continue their work. Analysis found that grants mentioning race, ethnicity, immigration status, or gender identity were disproportionately targeted, and the administration's new funding opportunities require that programs not impede federal immigration enforcement — a condition that state attorneys general have sued to block. Critics, including a federal judge who called the terminations "arbitrary" and "shameful," argue the cuts reflect a broader effort to weaponize DOJ funding in service of Trump's political agenda, while organizations that have long received bipartisan federal support say the shift from the first to second Trump administration has been dramatic and unprecedented.