The Supreme Court of Texas has temporarily halted a Harris County program that uses taxpayer funds to provide legal representation for illegal immigrants facing deportation, marking a significant development in an ongoing legal dispute over the scope of county authority and the use of public funds.
The state's highest civil court issued an injunction suspending Harris County's Immigrant Legal Services (ILS) program while litigation continues. Although the court did not decide whether the program ultimately violates the Texas Constitution, the justices indicated there are substantial legal concerns surrounding its legality and questioned whether counties have the constitutional or statutory authority to operate such a program.
The ILS fund was established in 2020 at the request of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who argued that navigating the federal immigration system often requires legal assistance. Commissioners initially approved $2 million for the initiative, and the county has allocated more than $9 million to the program over the past several years, including an additional $1.3 million approved in October 2025.
That latest funding prompted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to challenge the program in court. Paxton argues that the initiative violates the Texas Constitution's prohibition against using public money to provide private benefits without serving a legitimate public purpose. A district court ruled in December 2025 that the lawsuit could move forward but declined to block the program while the case proceeded.
The Texas Supreme Court's decision changes that, freezing additional expenditures until the underlying constitutional questions are resolved. The court also noted that once taxpayer funds are spent, recovering them would be impractical if the program is later found to be unlawful.
Paxton praised the ruling as an important step toward protecting taxpayer dollars and maintaining constitutional limits on local government spending. Harris County, however, has argued that the state waited too long to challenge the program, lacks legal standing to sue, and that counties enjoy governmental immunity. Those arguments have so far failed to halt the litigation.
Three justices dissented, concluding the state had not demonstrated sufficient grounds for temporary relief while the appeal remains pending.
The Harris County program distributes funding to several nonprofit organizations that provide legal services and immigration assistance, as well as an immigrant resource hotline. Similar programs operate in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio, although cities are generally subject to different constitutional restrictions than counties.
The case arrives amid heightened immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump's second administration and follows similar legal challenges by Paxton against other Texas counties funding deportation defense programs. A separate lawsuit involving Bexar County remains on appeal after a district court dismissed the state's challenge earlier this year.
