Texas's highest court has put an immediate pause on a Harris County program that helps pay for migrants' legal defense, FOX 26 reported. The freeze halts the county's Immigrant Legal Services Fund while a legal challenge plays out.
The fight traces back to a decision by local leaders. The Harris County Commissioners Court approved about 1.3 million dollars in public funds to help cover the legal defense of migrants facing federal deportation.
That move drew a swift legal challenge from the state's top lawyer. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued to stop the program, arguing that it is flat-out unconstitutional to use local property taxes to fund private legal aid groups.
The court sided, for now, with those concerns. It found that there are serious doubts about whether the county even has the authority to run the program, prompting the pause while the case continues.
Paxton welcomed the ruling in strong terms. He issued a statement celebrating the freeze and calling the program deeply wrong, declaring that it is unacceptable, it is illegal, and it will not stand in the Lone Star State.
County officials pushed back hard against the decision. County Commissioner Leslie Briones called the lawsuit an unjustified attack on fundamental fairness, saying people who have a legal pathway to remain in the country deserve access to justice and due process, and pledged that the county will keep fighting in court. FOX 26 said it reached out to the Harris County judge for a statement but had not heard back.
The ruling was not unanimous. Three justices dissented, arguing that the state had not proven an immediate freeze was even necessary at this point, underscoring how contested the case remains as it moves forward.