The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, or JAG originates out of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005. The program is named for New York City police officer Edward Byrne who was killed in the line of duty in 1988 while protecting an immigrant witness who agreed to testify against drug dealers. The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (EBMGP) was established by the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988, allocating approximately $200 million dollars to municipalities both local and state. The allocated money was used in efforts to reduce drug-crimes and support drug control, which was of national concern at the time. The JAG program is administered by the

Office of Justice Programs The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that focuses on crime prevention through research and development, assistance to state, local, and tribal criminal justice agencies, including law enforc ...

Bureau of Justice Assistance The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, within the United States Department of Justice. BJA provides leadership and assistance to local criminal justice programs that improve and reinforce the nat ...

, and provides federal criminal justice funding to state, local and tribal jurisdictions. The funding is intended for a variety of areas, such as personnel, training, equipment and supplies. In Fiscal Year 2019, $263.8 million in funding was available by the JAG Program. The Recovery Act of 2009 appropriated $2 billion in funding to the JAG program. The

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

announced in late July 2017 that more than two hundred sanctuary cities will be disqualified from receiving Byrne grants if their noncompliance with

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the Un ...

continues. Several cities challenged the change in courts, and as of November 2018, cases in District Courts of New York, Pennsylvania, California and Illinois have all found for the cities, with the Seventh Circuit Appeals Court affirming the Illinois district ruling. In February 2020, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

overturned the New York ruling, making it possible the case will go to the Supreme Court.

References

External links

Bureau of Justice Assistance
official website
State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance
account on

USAspending.gov USAspending.gov is a database of spending by the United States federal government. History Around the time of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006's passage, OMB Watch, a government watchdog group, was developing a ...

Federal assistance in the United States Grants (money) Law enforcement in the United States {{US-gov-stub