NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Justice System Responses to Illegal Immigration
This NOFO funds applied research and evaluation on state, local, and tribal justice system responses to illegal immigration and crimes committed by persons in the U.S. illegally, including operations, coordination, and effectiveness of local strategies.
RESTRICTED TO: STATE LOCAL GOV
⚑ Applicant classes are limited to state, local, and tribal governments and other units of local government; universities are not listed as eligible applicants. · Focus is on adult criminal justice system responses, not general immigration policy or basic social science. · Award ceiling is $3,000,000. · Applies to illegal immigration and crimes committed by aliens while in the U.S. illegally at state, local, and tribal levels.
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 25 weak | funds applied research; deep-tech content |
| IPPRA | 15 none | university cannot apply directly (ineligible) |
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 15 none | university cannot apply directly (ineligible) |
Description
This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Justice System Responses to Illegal Immigration. This opportunity supports proposals for rigorous, applied research and evaluations examining the adult criminal justice system (courts, law enforcement, jails, prisons, and community supervision) challenges and responses to illegal immigration and crimes committed by aliens while in the U.S. illegally at the state, local, and tribal levels. This includes, but is not limited to, location and apprehension, court operations, transportation and detention, investigating fraud and other crimes committed by illegal aliens, including creating an accurate profile of their rates of criminal activity, counter gang and criminal activity including drug and human trafficking operations. Criminal justice agencies often develop innovative solutions to local challenges that may provide insight to other jurisdictions. Applicants may propose studies examining single or multiple states and jurisdictions and models of cooperation between federal, state, local and tribal justice systems and other stakeholders. The goal of this NOFO is to identify innovative local strategies, evaluate their effectiveness, and inform practical, data-driven solutions that inform and strengthen the strategies that state, local, and tribal justice systems use to address illegal immigration.
Eligibility
Other Units of Local Government: For the purposes of this notice of funding opportunity, other units of local government include towns, boroughs, parishes, villages, or other general purpose political subdivisions of a state.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: National Institute of Justice <OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · Federal (generic) conventions SEE A FEDERAL EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — Federal (generic)'s document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.