TRENTON, N.J. — A federal court has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from enforcing new rules that would have restricted access to a range of health, education, and social service programs for low-income families, officials said Thursday.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, who joined 20 other state attorneys general in challenging the directives, said the ruling prevents what he described as unlawful restrictions on services including substance abuse treatment programs, Head Start, soup kitchens, and more.
“We have blocked yet another attempt by the Trump Administration to harm New Jersey – this time trying to place unlawful restrictions on substance abuse treatment programs, Head Start, soup kitchens, and much more,” Platkin said in a statement. “We prevailed in court for a simple reason. The President cannot ignore the laws of our nation and the Constitution. We will always stand up for New Jerseyans—especially when the federal government’s illegal actions threaten lifesaving services.”
The rules, issued earlier this summer by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Justice, sought to reinterpret the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a 1996 law governing access to public services. For nearly three decades, administrations of both parties had interpreted the law to allow states to provide services without verifying immigration status. The new directives would have required states to impose verification measures, potentially affecting programs such as Title X family planning clinics, food banks, adult education, and community health centers.
The court found the administration likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by implementing the changes without lawful rulemaking, misinterpreting the statute, and failing to consider the potential impact on states and communities. The injunction keeps the rules from taking effect while litigation continues.
In New Jersey, the affected programs included community mental health clinics, youth job development programs, domestic violence shelters, and technical education funding for students, according to state officials.
Alongside New Jersey, attorneys general from New York, Washington, Rhode Island, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia joined the lawsuit.
