A federal judge ordered the government of President Donald Trump temporarily restoring an old policy that gives legal and undocumented immigrants access to certain federal health and social benefits, which includes services to minors of preschool age.
Judge Ricardo Martínez, from the West District of Washington in Seattle, blocked a directive of the Department of Health and Human Services issued last July that sought to exclude families from participating in several programs due to their immigration status.
The HHS had reinterpreted the definition of “federal public benefit” in a 1996 policy, known as Prwora, which allows undocumented immigrants to access certain federal health benefits.
Specifically, the Trump government prohibited undocumented to access many state and local benefits such as Head Start, a preschool program aimed at children under 5 funded with federal resources.
“The court was clear: the HHS does not have the authority to impose a restriction based on immigration on the families of Head Start,” Jennese Calvo-Friedman, lawyer for the Women’s Rights Rights Rights Lawyer of the US Union of Civil Liberties, who represents the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
The lawyer stressed that no child or any family should be afraid to access essential learning services such as Head Start.
Judge Martínez’s ruling occurs after a coalition of 21 states earned a lawsuit to stop the implementation of the new HHS policy.
