Joining Attorney General Nessel in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Lansing, Michigan – Michigan’s attorney general has won a big legal battle that protects access to essential health and social programs across the state. A federal court has granted a preliminary injunction, stopping the Trump administration’s attempt to limit funds and make it harder for important services to run.
The disagreement was over the administration’s attempt to change the meaning of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which has been a federal law for a long time. Republican and Democratic administrations have interpreted the statute for almost thirty years to mean that states could offer programs like Head Start, domestic violence shelters, food banks, family planning clinics, and community health centers without having to check people’s legal status. Four federal agencies—Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Justice—recently changed their policies. This would have meant that states had to check the immigrant status of many grantees.
A group of 20 other state attorneys general, led by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, took the action to court. They said that the sudden shift in policy was not only illegal, but also very dangerous for families who were already in trouble. If the new rules were allowed to remain, states would have had to either follow them and deal with the extra work or risk losing money for important services.
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The court agreed with the states and issued a temporary injunction to stop the orders while the case is still going on. The court’s judgment suggested that the administration probably broke the Administrative Procedure Act by not following the rules and not taking into account the wide-ranging damage the modifications could cause. The decision keeps access to programs that millions of people rely on every day, making sure that things stay the same while the legal process goes on.
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The effect would have been felt all around Michigan. Programs including Title X Family Planning, Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness, and a number of job and education programs were under danger of being interrupted. Nessel stressed how important the court’s judgment was, saying that families can keep using these services without worrying about being denied suddenly.
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The coalition comprises states and jurisdictions from across the country, which shows that many people have concerns about what might happen. The injunction keeps the affected programs going, which is good for families who need them the most right now when things are stable.