Judges block Biden HHS rule on undocumented immigrant benefits

Federal judges in two separate federal courts this week blocked the Biden administration's and Health and Human Services agency's reinterpretation of federal rules that would have barred immigrants in the country illegally from participating in federally funded programs such as the Head Start preschool program and community health services. A judge in Rhode Island issued an injunction on Wednesday covering a coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia, and a second judge in Washington state on Thursday issued a nationwide preliminary injunction, effectively putting the policy on hold while lawsuits proceed.

The proposals, announced in July by the Department of Health and Human Services, would have rescinded a Clinton-era interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and reclassified some community-level programs as federal public benefits, making them ineligible to people without legal status. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended the change as a step to "stop diverting hardworking Americans tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration" and to restore integrity to federal programs.