D-1Science and Technology and other Research and Development

NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Justice System Responses to Illegal Immigration

Agency: Department of Justice
Run by: National Institute of Justice
Target applicants: City or township governments, Special district governments, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Private institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification), Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, State governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), County gov
Application period: 2026-10-09 ~ 2026-11-16
Contact: National Institute of Justice 202-616-5314

Open in EDIT and start the application View on Grants.gov Application site

Source: Grants.gov

How to apply

Register your organization on SAM.gov to get a UEI (Unique Entity ID). It can take up to 10 business days to become active, and it must be renewed every year. SAM.gov
Create a Grants.gov account and add an applicant profile with your UEI. The E-Business Point of Contact named in SAM.gov gives the person who submits the AOR role. Grants.gov
On the opportunity page, select Apply to create a Workspace. Complete the SF-424 and the other required forms in Workspace. Opportunity page
Attach the narrative documents the NOFO asks for (such as the Project Narrative, Project Abstract and Budget Justification) in Workspace. EDIT can draft them from your materials. Workspace
Submit from Workspace, then check the status with your Grants.gov tracking number. Track my application

Overview

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. Award ceiling: $3,000,000 Estimated total funding: $3,000,000 Expected awards: 5 Opportunity number: O-NIJ-2026-172800 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.