BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Bexar County over a program that uses county funds to help undocumented immigrants who need legal support in deportation cases.
The suit, filed on Feb. 4, is similar to one that Paxton filed in December in Harris County, which was struck down by a district judge. At the time, then County Attorney Christian Menefee, who was recently elected to be the U.S. Representative for the 18th Congressional District, called the lawsuit a “cheap political stunt.”
According to an article in the Texas Tribune, Bexar County allocated $566,000 to its Immigration Legal Services program in December. In his statement on the suit, Paxton alleges that the number may rise to over $1 million.
The program began in Bexar County, home to the City of San Antonio, in May 2024. It is designed to help people who are facing deportation get lawyers. Similar programs also exist in Austin and Dallas.
In his statement, Paxton says, “Subsidizing private deportation-defense legal services confers no public benefit, serves predominantly private radical interests, and falls well outside of the County’s lawful authority.”
Paxton has, in the past, also sued the cities of Austin and San Antonio for providing access to funding for people who need to travel out of state to receive abortions. In San Antonio, the suit was successful, blocking the city from using allocated funds to do so.
This suit is seeking a temporary restraining order against Bexar County, as well as a court injunction to immediately stop the county from further allocating these funds.