Maryland Residents to Retain Access to Vital Social Services Following Court Order

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced a significant legal victory today, as a federal court granted a preliminary injunction that blocks federal attempts to restrict access to essential social services for low-income families. This injunction halts new federal rules that would have imposed immigration status verification requirements on a wide range of programs, potentially leading to severe funding cuts and the closure of critical community resources.

The lawsuit, which Attorney General Brown joined with 20 other state attorneys general, challenged a July directive from the Trump administration that reinterpreted a decades-old law governing access to social services. The federal court’s decision preserves access to programs such as Head Start, Title X family planning clinics, food banks, domestic violence shelters, adult education initiatives, and community health centers for residents in plaintiff states, including Maryland. The ruling ensures that vulnerable populations will not be denied essential support based on their immigration status while the broader litigation continues.

The federal agencies involved, including the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Justice, had issued coordinated directives redefining policy under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). For nearly 30 years, administrations of both political parties had interpreted PRWORA to allow states to provide public health, education, and anti-poverty programs without regard to immigration status. The Trump administration’s reversal of this established policy threatened to force states to implement immigration status checks on numerous services, risking substantial funding losses and program disruptions.

The court found that the federal government likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by implementing these new mandates without proper rulemaking procedures, misinterpreting PRWORA, and failing to adequately consider the detrimental effects on states and their communities. This preliminary injunction is a crucial step in preventing immediate harm to millions of families who rely on these services.

The coalition challenging these rules includes the attorneys general from New York, Washington, Rhode Island, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‛i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from the Maryland Attorney General.

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