Attorney General Nessel Files Lawsuit to Block Federal Restrictions on Public Benefits

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel 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 (PDF). Earlier this month, in a chaotic reversal of agency policy, the administration issued notices prohibiting state safety net programs from serving all residents before completing citizenship or immigration status verifications. The change threatens access to critical services like Head Start, Title X family planning, adult education, mental health care, and Community Health Centers. Attorney General Nessel 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.

“Title X, community centers, and mental health services are vital to the well-being of Michigan residents,” Nessel said. “Unlawfully disregarding longstanding precedent on a whim puts these vital programs at risk, not only for those without formal documentation but for the entire community. It forces providers to comply with sudden, arbitrary changes or lose federal funding. That’s why I’m back in Court for the 25th time this year, alongside my colleagues, fighting to stop the Trump Administration’s unlawful actions and protect the programs Michigan families depend on.”

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 longstanding federal practice under both Republican and Democratic administrations. The rules took effect immediately or with minimal notice and affect not only undocumented immigrants, but also some lawful visa holders and, in practice, even U.S. citizens who lack access to formal documentation.

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 programs must now institute immigration verification measures – including Head Start, Title X Clinics, community health centers, anti-poverty resources, adult education programs, and critical mental health and substance use services. 

For example, in Michigan:

• The Title X Family Planning Program, which served nearly 42,000 residents in 2024, offers FDA-approved contraceptive care, sexually transmitted infection testing, pregnancy support, and infertility services to low-income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals and adolescents. Complying with the new requirements would take at least nine months and require substantial funding and staffing.
• The Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program, which served more than 2,300 individuals in Michigan last year, connects recipients to shelters, healthcare, and benefits. It also supports the SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) program, which increases access to Social Security disability benefits for eligible children and adults who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical disability, or a serious mental illness and a co-occurring disorder. Integrating immigration status checks is estimated to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and require thousands of staff hours.
• The Employment Services (ES) program – established by the federal Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933 – supports 16 Michigan Works! Agencies in administering public employment offices across the state. These offices provide job search assistance, job placement assistance, re-employment services, work registration for unemployment insurance claimants, and recruitment services to employers that helped over 370,000 individuals in Michigan in 2024. Updates to the ES management system to incorporate a work authorization verification process are estimated to require 425 hours at a cost of approximately $53,125.

These programs — as well as several other impacted programs —serve broad populations, including U.S. citizens, lawful residents, and new immigrants, and are not designed to collect or verify immigration status. 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 not only recipients of services, but also 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 asks 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.

This is the 25th lawsuit the department has filed against the Trump Administration since January 2025. When President Trump’s actions both violate the law and harm Michigan residents, the Department of Attorney General will not hesitate to act – whether defending our elections from federal interference or fighting to uphold the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

These lawsuits have so far recouped likely more than $1 billion on behalf of the State, including more than $100 million in FEMA funds owed to Michigan State Police for emergency use and hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to reinforce school safety measures and combat infectious diseases. Judges have ordered the Administration to unfreeze federal funding – including funding for Medicare and Head Start portals. To check the status of ongoing litigation, visit the Department’s Federal Actions Tracker.

Joining Attorney General Nessel in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

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