Illinois joins suit to block Trump administration from barring undocumented immigrants from public benefits
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has once again joined a coalition of other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over new rules that could bar immigrants without legal status from health and education programs.
The suit, announced Monday, seeks to stop a series of orders from federal agencies that would block people from the early childhood education program Head Start, Title X family planning, adult education, mental health care and community health centers based on immigration status.
That’s despite the fact that the federal government typically exempts nonprofit organizations from asking about immigration status, including about 70% of Head Start agencies. The Trump administration skipped over the usual process of proposing policy changes and waiting to collect public feedback. Instead, officials issued a news release announcing the change in the interpretation of the law.
The attorneys general argued the federal government misapplied the rules around the programs, redesignating entire programs inappropriately and conditioning aid already approved by Congress — which the suit called unconstitutional. They also say the move could bring harm to families who rely on the programs, including citizens and legal residents who may not have access to documents.
“Some of our most crucial social service programs are now at risk because of the Trump administration’s latest attempt to withhold federal funds and enforce unlawful rules that require immediate compliance,” Raoul said. “This litigation calls on the court to halt these rules and act quickly so everyone, regardless of immigration status, can have access to these programs.”
People in the country illegally are largely ineligible for federal public benefits such as food stamps, student loans and financial aid for higher education. But for decades they have been able to access some community-level programs such as Head Start and community health centers.
The changes are part of a multi-agency announcement rescinding an interpretation of federal law dating to former President Bill Clinton’s administration, which had allowed immigrants in the country illegally to access some programs. The Education Department, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor announced similar changes affecting a range of workforce development and adult education programs.
This includes post-secondary career and technical education programs or adult education programs, and grant recipients were given a notice to ensure programs receiving federal money do not provide services to immigrants without legal status.
The Illinois Head Start Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois have also filed a lawsuit over what they say are a series of attempts to dismantle the program. They said it would be amended to include the new rule changes as well.
Last week, lacking any guidance from the federal government on how to ban anyone without legal immigration status from a vital early childhood program, the Illinois Head Start Association told its hundreds of members not to make any changes yet to their policies or programs.
Also part of the suit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
It’s the same coalition Raoul has routinely joined in more than 20 other cases, including in suits over triggers that can make semiautomatic rifles fire faster, attempts to change election law, and cuts to public health and medical research funding, and federal access to immigrant Medicaid data, among others.
“I will continue to oppose arbitrary and illegal actions by the Trump administration and will use all the tools at our disposal to fight unlawful orders,” Raoul said Monday.
Contributing: Lauren FitzPatrick, AP