Harris County’s legal defense funding program for illegal aliens has been halted by the Texas Supreme Court. The program sends over $1 million in taxpayer money to left-wing legal organizations.
The funding is only blocked temporarily, while Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal challenge to the program proceeds on the merits.
Background
Last year, Democrat commissioners in Harris County pushed through $1.3 million in new funding for the county’s taxpayer-funded Immigrant Legal Services Program—a county initiative launched in 2020 to support illegal aliens in deportation proceedings.
With Republican Commissioner Tom Ramsey dissenting, the 4–1 vote allocated $1,344,751 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 Services.
In November 2025, Paxton filed a lawsuit against Harris County over the new funding.
The lawsuit argued that the county’s allocation violates the Texas Constitution’s “gift clause,” which prohibits any county, city, or subdivision of the state from granting public money “in aid of, or to any individual … whatsoever.”
The Texas Supreme Court has interpreted that clause to require three conditions: that an expenditure brings a public benefit, serves a legitimate public purpose, and includes safeguards to ensure proper use of funds.
According to Paxton’s filing, the $1.3 million provides no public benefit or consideration for Harris County. The lawsuit further claimed that individuals involved in deportation proceedings—being civil, not criminal, cases—have no constitutional or statutory right to government-funded legal representation.
Paxton sought a temporary injunction, blocking the funding from being disbursed while the litigation proceeded.
The court of appeals denied issuing temporary relief, leading Paxton to seek intervention from the Supreme Court of Texas.
The Order
On Friday, the Supreme Court of Texas stepped in, blocking Harris County from disbursing the funds until further order of the Court.
“On the limited record before us, and without making any definitive determination on the merits, we conclude that there exists serious doubt about the constitutionality of the Harris County program at issue,” reads the order.
Specifically, the Court found that “it is not clear that the County has constitutional or statutory authority to conduct the program,” and “after the funds are expended, they cannot feasibly be recouped.”
The Court acknowledged that the county made several defenses that it is not outright rejecting. Rather, it is being left to the lower court to decide these matters on the merits.
“Harris County is ordered to refrain from disbursing funds in connection with the Immigrant Legal Services Fund and the Immigration Resource Hotline until further order of this Court. The court of appeals should proceed to decide the appeal now pending before it,” the order concluded.
Following the ruling, Gov. Greg Abbott took to X in support of the decision.
“The Texas Supreme Court rules, for now, that Harris County cannot use tax dollars to fund illegal immigrant legal challenges to deportation,” wrote Abbott. “That is not a function of county government. It’s just another example of wasteful spending by local governments that must end.”
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