(AP) – A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Trump administration restrictions on services for immigrants in the country illegally, including the federal preschool program Head Start, health clinics and adult education.

The order from the judge in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island applies to 20 states and the District of Columbia, whose attorneys general, all Democrats, sued the administration. It puts the administration’s reinterpretation of a Clinton-era federal policy on hold while the case is decided.

Under the proposed changes, some community-level programs would be reclassified as federal public benefits, making them inaccessible to people without legal status. Individual public benefits, such as food stamps and college financial aid, have been largely unavailable to people in the country without legal status.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, said in her order that the policy rollout was “rushed” in a way that would worsen the impact for people cut off from community services and those tasked with verifying eligibility.

“The Government argues that it has somehow interpreted this statute incorrectly for the nearly thirty years that it has been the law,” McElroy wrote. “In its view, everyone … has misunderstood it from the start — at least until last month, when the right way to read it became clear to the Government. The Court is skeptical of that.”

Messages seeking comment were left with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Education Department, the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice, which each were named as defendants.

The states’ lawsuit argued the government failed to follow the rulemaking process and did not provide the required notice on conditions placed on federal funds.

The rule changes had been paused initially within the states that sued after they reached a temporary agreement with the Trump administration.

“With this victory, we are protecting children’s education, safeguarding critical health care, and preserving the safety net that keeps families afloat,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.

Proponents of Head Start immediately voiced concern that the new policy would harm immigrant communities by taking away health services and educational opportunities. The administrative burdens of implementing the new rule would cause many under-resourced Head Start programs to close, according to the plaintiffs’ complaint.

The federal government said it interprets Head Start as a federal public benefit, similar to welfare programs that exclude immigrants in the country illegally. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, whose agency oversees Head Start, said the directive would stop diverting “hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration.”

In addition to preserving Head Start access, the lawsuit also sought to block the restrictions on other federal programs, including substance abuse services, mental health resources in schools, career and technical education, and job training opportunities.

 

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