CA Sues Trump For Banning Undocumented Immigrants From 'Public Benefit' Programs

California is leading a coalition of Democratic states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration over new federal rules that restrict access to public benefits for undocumented immigrants.

Filed Monday, the lawsuit challenges regulations that bar certain adults and children from enrolling in more than a dozen federally funded programs based on immigration status. California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the policy shift illegal and said it jeopardizes access to essential services for some of the nation’s most vulnerable residents.

"Let’s be clear: This latest salvo in the President’s inhumane anti-immigration campaign primarily goes after working moms and their young children," Bonta said in a release Monday.

Among the programs are Head Start, which provides more than 800,000 low-income children with daycare, nutrition and health assistance.

According to the Trump administration, Head Start is "reserved for American citizens from now on." The federal government says that the adjusted amount of recipients of these programs could get as much as $374 million in additional Head Start services annually.

Other programs include shelters for unhoused people, emergency shelters during extreme weather, soup kitchens, community food banks, shelters for domestic violence victims, health care services for those with mental illness or substance abuse, childcare services, adult education programs and more.

"We’re not talking about waste, fraud and abuse, we’re talking about programs that deliver essential childcare, healthcare, nutrition, and education assistance, programs that have for decades been open to all because we understand that we are better off when everyone has the chance to succeed," Bonta said.

Since the late 90s, the federal government has permitted states to use federal funds for programs like these to serve communities "based on need regardless of immigration status," Bonta's office said.

On July 10, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services rescinded a 1998 interpretation of that precedent, formally called the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. It was issued by the Clinton administration.

“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “Today’s action changes that—it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.”

But Bonta argues that the administration's reversal of this three-decades-old precedent is not only "cruel," but "abrupt."

We’re suing the Trump Administration over its abrupt decision to upend a longstanding federal policy allowing access to critical safety net programs like Head Start, domestic violence shelters, soup kitchens, and public health services, regardless of immigration status.

This… pic.twitter.com/We8QVA4wfb

— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) July" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/AGRobBonta... 21, 2025

Bonta argues that Trump failed to provide notice and an opportunity for state administrations to comment, which he says is a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

"They highlight that instead of saving money, the new verification requirements will lead to an overall cost to their states’ economies in the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars each year and will endanger the ability of these programs to continue providing services to all of the residents of their states, not just noncitizens.

Here is a list of newly classified "public benefit" programs by the Trump administration that will now exclude undocumented immigrants:

Just about seven months into his second term, President Trump has faced a relentless barrage of lawsuits from the Golden State — 32 so far — targeting his most controversial moves.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January, California has emerged as a leading force in the legal resistance, filing dozens of lawsuits over policies ranging from immigration enforcement and military deployment to sweeping economic measures.

During Trump's first term, California sued the administration 123 times, which cost the state around $41 million, KQED reported. According to the Attorney General's office, Trump lost more than two-thirds of the lawsuits filed against him during that term.