EL PASO, TEXAS — The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued an order Monday “vacating” 2025 policies issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other agencies denying immigrants access to health and social service programs like Head Start early learning, workforce development and technical education, community clinic services, homelessness, and mental health and substance use disorder treatment. The suit was brought by the attorney general of New York and 19 other states. The Court found that these policies violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which safeguards against arbitrary rulemaking by federal agencies.
In response to Monday’s ruling, PIF issued the following statement by its executive director, Adriana Cadena.
“We applaud the Court’s order striking down these arbitrary, abusive, and dangerous policies. The Trump administration has consistently demonstrated a disregard for federal law in its reckless assault on immigrant families. This ruling protects the health and wellbeing of the 28% of America’s population living in immigrant families. We applaud state efforts to ensure federal agencies adhere to processes and encourage Congress to do the same.”
