Official funding announcement — preliminary draft
Funder: National Institute of Justice
Opportunity number: O-NIJ-2026-172800
Official listed status: posted
Closing information: 2026-11-16 (official deadline clock time and time zone must be checked in NOFO)
Award disclosure: Official federal synopsis lists an award ceiling of 3,000,000; applicant-level applicability requires full-NOFO review.
Applicant categories in federal synopsis: County governments; Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized); 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); City or township governments; Private institutions of higher education; Public and State controlled institutions of higher education; For profit organizations other than small businesses; Special district governments; Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments); Small businesses; State governments; Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Federal synopsis
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.
Draft intake record. Eligibility, program terms, current amendments and applicant ceiling must be independently verified before publishing.