![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771687840_905_0610-Court-ICE-Arrest-AT-05-scaled-1.jpg\")
Two men are detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after their court hearings in June in Houston. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had sued Bexar and Harris counties for allocating funds to organizations that offer legal defense services to undocumented immigrants. Credit: Texas Tribune \/ Antranik Tavitian<\/p>\n
A San Antonio district judge ruled Friday that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could not represent the state in a suit against Bexar County aimed at shutting down a program that uses county funds to help undocumented people access legal support. <\/p>\n
In December, a judge rejected a similar lawsuit Paxton\u2019s office filed against Harris County.<\/p>\n
District Judge Mary Lou Alvarez ruled that no attorneys with Paxton\u2019s office could try the case, and that the suit would be dismissed in a week unless authorized counsel took their place. The county\u2019s immigration services program\u2019s end is scheduled for Feb. 28, a day after the court\u2019s deadline to Paxton\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Home to San Antonio, Bexar County, allocated more than $566,000 to its Immigration Legal Services program in mid-December. Paxton sued the county on Feb. 4 in a bid to shutter what he called a \u201ccriminal-loving agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n
The county\u2019s attorneys argued in its plea that commissioners had acted lawfully when allocating the funds to its Immigration Legal Services program, and that the state lacked jurisdiction to sue solely based on its discretionary allocation.<\/p>\n
The background: When Harris County started the Immigrant Legal Services Fund in 2020, it was the largest county in the United States without a program aimed at helping undocumented immigrants get legal counsel. Austin, Dallas and San Antonio already had similar programs.\u00a0Bexar County first launched its initiative in May 2024, giving $1 million to two nonprofits that help people facing deportations get lawyers.<\/p>\n
County Judge Lina Hidalgo proposed the Harris County program, which passed on a party-line vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a family at a deportation hearing and they don\u2019t have an attorney, they\u2019re deported at a much higher rate, like 90 percent of the time, compared to like 5 percent of the time when they do have an attorney,\u201d Hidalgo said at the time, according to the Houston Chronicle.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The program sends county dollars to five organizations: BakerRipley, the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project, Justice for All Immigrants, KIND, Inc. and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Service.<\/p>\n After a district judge rejected Paxton\u2019s efforts to shut down Harris County\u2019s program in December, then-County Attorney Christian Menefee dismissed the case as a \u201ccheap political stunt.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHarris County will not be intimidated or pushed around by state officials who are more interested in pandering than governing,\u201d Menefee said.<\/p>\n The Harris County Jail leads the nation in ICE detainers<\/a> \u2014 a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to hold a person for deportation \u2014 as federal and state immigration enforcement has kicked into high gear under President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Why Texas is suing: Paxton argues in both lawsuits that these programs \u201cserve no public purpose and instead constitute unconstitutional grants of public funds to private entities to subsidize individual deportation defenses.\u201d<\/p>\n He has asked judges to stop officials in Harris and Bexar counties from disbursing funds to these organizations immediately, and bar them from doing so in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n Paxton has filed similar lawsuits against the cities of Austin and San Antonio over their support of nonprofit organizations that help Texans access abortions. In June, the 15th Court of Appeals ruled in his favor<\/a>, blocking San Antonio from using the funds the city had allocated to potentially help people who needed to travel out of the state for abortions.\u00a0<\/p>\n What local officials say: When Bexar County leaders approved the funding, Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores said it was part of their commitment to \u201cfight for human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis program protects vulnerable Bexar County residents, helps keep families together, and serves a legitimate public purpose,\u201d Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n A representative from American Gateways, the group that receives the bulk of the funding, said their primary clients are families and children, Texas Public Radio reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Commissioner Grant Moody, who was the sole vote against the funding, said at the time that he felt it was a misuse of taxpayer dollars and there weren\u2019t sufficient guardrails on the program, and he was worried about a lawsuit from Paxton if they approved the funding.<\/p>\n But Harris County officials say they are confident their victory in court will be upheld. After the Harris County ruling in December, Menefee, who recently won a special election to represent the 18th Congressional District, accused Paxton of cherry-picking facts about the program and ignoring its \u201cclear public purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese are people who live here, work here, pay taxes, and contribute every single day to Harris County,\u201d Menefee, who is in a runoff for the 18th Congressional District, said. \u201cMaking sure they can resolve their immigration status strengthens our economy, keeps families together, and makes our community safer.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement, Menefee and members of the Harris County Commissioners\u2019 Court accused Paxton of using this program to bolster his conservative credentials during a heated primary for U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n \u201cProviding legal support to immigrants who are trying to \u2018do it the right way\u2019 was never a concern to the Attorney General\u2019s Office,\u201d Commissioner Adrian Garcia said. \u201cThat is, until Ken Paxton decided to run for higher office.\u201d<\/p>\n After the October vote to allocate funding for the legal defense program, Commissioner Rodney Ellis said in a statement that it was necessary because of the increase in immigration raids.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHaving access to legal representation not only improves case outcomes but helps keep families together,\u201d he said in a statement<\/a>, according to the Houston Chronicle. \u201cIn a county as diverse as ours, local government must step up to safeguard safety, justice, and the people we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tHis death is the first homicide in ICE custody in recent history, experts said. It comes after the deadliest year in ICE detention in decades.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Cuban](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771687840_252_20250811-Cornyn-Camp-East-Montana-PR-17.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771687841_564_IMG_5254.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771687841_148_Young-Man.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n