Updated: Since the publication of this article, Pennsylvania has been added to the list of states in which this Trump administration policy is temporarily on hold. The administration has also delayed the date on which this policy takes effect in these 21 states by a week, until Sept. 11, 2025.
The Trump administration will temporarily pause enforcement of a new policy that prohibits undocumented children from attending Head Start and keeps undocumented high schoolers out of dual enrollment and early college programs after 21 Democratic attorneys general sued over the new rules.
In an agreement filed in federal court in Rhode Island on Friday, four federal agencies agreed not to enforce the policy through Sept. 3 as the lawsuit plays out. The pause will apply in 20 states and the District of Columbia, which jointly filed the lawsuit. The four agencies are the U.S. departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Justice, and Labor.
The 20 states and the District of Columbia asked a federal judge on July 21 to halt the new rules announced July 10, which reclassified more than a dozen federally funded services as benefits similar to welfare so the Trump administration can bar undocumented immigrants from accessing them.
The notices from the federal agencies, which reverse decades of precedent, take aim at Head Start, the preschool program for children from families living in poverty, and federally funded postsecondary career and technical education programs and adult education. Outside of education-related services, the affected services include mental health and substance use treatment, homelessness transition support, and family planning.
The Education and Health and Human Services departments were among multiple federal agencies to submit the official notices reversing decisions made during Democratic President Bill Clinton’s administration, under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which overhauled the nation’s welfare system.
The law restricted eligibility for some public benefits to citizens and immigrants with legal status. Federal agencies at the time interpreted that provision to apply to some services and not others, and the Trump administration’s notices earlier this month broadened the list of services to which it applied.
States and others administering the programs newly subject to the immigration status verification requirements have never before had to verify recipients’ immigration status.
The states argue that the change was procedurally illegal, and was already creating “chaos” that could result in Head Start programs closing their doors due to the added administrative burden.
The Trump administration said the new policies seek to reduce incentives for illegal immigration and direct taxpayer dollars to citizens.
As part of Friday’s agreement, the Trump administration also agreed that, regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, it would not retroactively impose funding restrictions or other punitive measures for the 20 states’ actions prior to Sept. 4—when the new policy is currently scheduled to take effect in those states unless a court intervenes.
Use the map below to find out if the policy is on hold in your state.
