PHOENIX– Arizona Attorney General Mayes today joined a coalition of 20 other attorneys general in suing the federal administration to stop its unlawful attempt to restrict access to critical health, education, and social service programs for American citizens. In Arizona, the Attorney General’s Office of Victim Services that supports survivors of all crimes, including sexual abuse and trafficking, would be just one of the government benefits Arizonans would see a severe restriction in services with due to this unlawful rule change.
“This is yet another outrageous attempt by this administration to workaround the law and disrupt critical services Arizonans depend on every day,” said Attorney General Mayes. “What do they think will happen when Head Start, Meals on Wheels, and Victim Services shutter? Arizonans will have to foot the bill for emergency childcare, scramble to figure out how to feed their family, and go without the support they deserve and are owed by law.”
Earlier this month, in a chaotic reversal of agency policy, the federal administration issued notices prohibiting state safety net programs from serving all residents, requiring burdensome paperwork and bureaucratic changes that could cripple services to Arizonans. The change threatens access to critical services like victim services, Head Start, Meals on Wheels, adult education, mental health care, and Community Health Centers.
Attorney General Mayes and the coalition are asking the court to halt the new federal rules and act quickly to ensure continued access to some of the nation’s most crucial social services programs. The rules took effect immediately or with minimal notice and affect U.S. citizens who lack access to formal documentation, in addition to lawful visa holders and undocumented immigrants.
Starting on July 10, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Education (ED), Labor (DOL), and Justice (DOJ) issued a coordinated set of rules and guidance documents that reinterpret the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). The agencies’ new interpretation restricts states from using federal funds to provide services to individuals who cannot verify immigration status – a major shift from long-standing federal practice under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
These programs serve broad populations, including U.S. citizens, lawful residents, and new immigrants, and are not designed to collect or verify immigration status. In Arizona this could have immediate impacts for many members of the state who rely on these services daily, including:
- The 15,000 children and 13,000 families served by Head Start
- The more than 35,000 Arizonans who receive health care annually at the 53 Title X clinics statewide
- The thousands of Arizonans who rely on the 2.5 million meals Meals on Wheels serves in our state yearly.
These new directives are already causing major disruptions. Because the HHS, ED, and DOL rules took effect last week, state programs are now expected to comply immediately, despite having no infrastructure in place to do so. Most providers cannot implement dramatic regulatory changes overnight and, as a result, they now face a dramatic loss of federal funding. Many crucial state programs must now institute immigration verification measures – including AGO’s victim services, Head Start, Meals on Wheels, Title X Clinics, community health centers, anti-poverty resources, adult education programs, and critical mental health and substance use services – but some providers warn that they will not be able to change their practices no matter how much time and money they have to do so and therefore face closure.
Providers warn that the new rules could deter people from seeking help, lead to service cutoffs, and destabilize systems already stretched thin. Many of these programs, which prevent the spread of communicable disease or promote economic development, exist for the benefit and protection of the broader community, which will be harmed by the effects of the new guidance.
The lawsuit argues that the federal government acted unlawfully by issuing these changes without following required procedures under the Administrative Procedure Act, and by misapplying PRWORA to entire programs rather than to individual benefits. The changes also violate the Constitution’s Spending Clause by imposing new funding conditions on states without fair notice or consent.
The coalition is asking the court to declare the new rules unlawful, halt their implementation through preliminary and permanent injunctions, vacate the rules and restore the long-standing agency practice, and prevent the federal government from using PRWORA as a pretext to dismantle core safety net programs in the future.
Joining Attorney General Mayes in filing this lawsuit, which was led by New York Attorney General, Washington Attorney General, and Rhode Island Attorney General, are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
Copies of the lawsuit, state declaration, and the motion for preliminary injunction are available below.