Until recently, Houston residents whose loved ones were detained or deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement could rely on free legal services funded by the Harris County Commissioners Court.
The $1.3 million Immigrant Legal Services Fund has been in place since 2020, but Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the county late last year, alleging that it was unlawfully funneling taxpayer dollars to “radical leftist organizations that will use the money to oppose the lawful deportations of illegal aliens.”
Last week, the Texas Supreme Court sided with Paxton, ruling that funds can’t be disbursed while the case is being litigated. County Attorney Abbie Kamin and three Democratic commissioners say the fight isn’t over.
“Helping our neighbors access due process is not controversial,” Kamin said in a statement. “It is a core value of the American Dream. Vulnerable individuals and organizations that this program serves cannot afford these delays. We will not stop fighting for our immigrant communities that make us the most diverse county in the nation.”
Roxanne Werner, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Attorney’s Office, said Monday there’s no timeline for when the litigation will end, meaning the fund could be on hold for weeks or months.
Paxton says the allocation of funds to five nonprofits violates the Texas Constitution’s “gift clause,” because the funds serve no public purpose and instead “subsidize the legal defense of illegal aliens who ought to be deported. U.S. Congressman Christian Menefee, who was county attorney at the time the suit was filed last year, called Paxton’s move a political stunt. Paxton is running against state Rep. James Talarico in November for a United States Senate seat.
The agencies that receive county funds to assist with immigration legal services include BakerRIpley, the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project, Justice for All Immigrants, KIND Inc. and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. The services are offered to people detained at ICE facilities who earn below 80 percent of the Area Median Income.
The goal of the program is to create an immigration court where everyone who needs an attorney gets one: regardless of the strength of their case or the person’s criminal record, the website states. In its first year of operation, partner agencies assisted with 360 legal cases affecting an estimated 140 households, according to county records.
The Texas Supreme Court ruling on June 26 was particularly alarming, said Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, because it came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could refuse entry to asylum seekers along the southern border.
“The State of Texas is driving this lawsuit, and Donald Trump’s deadly ICE raids are harming the community, spreading fear, separating families and undermining trust in our communities,” Ellis said in a statement. “Harris County should protect every resident, regardless of immigration status.”
Commissioners Lesley Briones and Adrian Garcia also criticized the decision, with Garcia scoffing at Paxton’s assertion that it provides no public purpose. “It keeps families together and supports more stable communities,” he said. “People with legal representation are also more likely to appear in court, follow the legal process, and cooperate with law enforcement when they are victims or witnesses of crime.”
Briones said that violent criminals can and should be deported. “At the same time, we will fight to protect everyone who has a legal pathway to citizenship, and avoid needless family separations in the pursuit of the American Dream,” she said.
Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the lone Republican on the Harris County Commissioners Court, voted against renewing the fund last year but is named in Paxton’s lawsuit along with the other commissioners and County Judge Lina Hidalgo. The county judge, whose term expires at the end of the year, was born in Bogota, Colombia, and became a U.S. citizen in 2013, the year she graduated from Stanford University.
Paxton issued a press release on Saturday, calling the ruling “a major win for protecting taxpayer dollars.”
“It’s deeply wrong that any Texan should be forced to have their hard-earned dollars taken from them only to be handed out to defend illegal aliens,” he said. “It’s unacceptable, it’s illegal, and it will not stand in the Lone Star State. I commend the Texas Supreme Court for correctly ordering that this unlawful program is frozen as the case continues.”
Immigration rights advocates have argued that it costs more to incarcerate people accused of immigration violations than to provide legal counsel.
Paxton also sued immigration rights group FIEL Houston last year, alleging that they violated federal rules that govern nonprofits’ political involvement by criticizing Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. “Anti-American organizations like FIEL’s aim is to destroy our country and flood our nation with foreign invaders,” Paxton said at the time.
Kamin says the ruling on the legal defense fund isn’t final and she expects Harris County will prevail in court.
“Without counsel, families are separated and individuals are deported who have every legal right to remain here. That is not justice, and Harris County will not accept it as the status quo,” she said. “This program is legal; it is grounded in our county’s values, and it reflects what good, responsive government looks like.”
