Attorney General Phil Weiser files lawsuit to block federal restrictions on public benefits

July 21, 2025 (DENVER) – Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined a coalition of 19 other attorneys general in suing the federal administration to stop its unlawful attempt to restrict access to critical health, education, and social service programs.

Earlier this month, in a chaotic reversal of agency policy, the administration issued notices prohibiting state safety net programs from serving all residents, regardless of immigration status. The change threatens access to critical services like Head Start, Title X family planning, mental health care, and community health centers. Attorney General Weiser 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.

“A number of Colorado programs serve all comers and don’t have the capacity to evaluate immigration status,” said Attorney General Weiser. “This change of longstanding policy, with no time to adjust, is going to burden and undermine these important programs—from family planning to adult education to head start. Sadly, it’s another example of the federal government operating in an erratic and irrational fashion, failing to consider the consequences of its hasty actions.”

Starting on July 10, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Justice issued a coordinated set of rules and guidance documents that reinterpret the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, or 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 long-standing 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 causing major disruptions. Because the HHS, Education, and Labor 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 sweeping regulatory changes overnight and, as a result, they now face a dramatic loss of federal funding. Many crucial state 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. But some providers warn they will not be able to change their practices no matter how much time and money they have to do so and therefore face closure.

The Colorado Behavioral Health Administration has warned that the policy change will require the agency to identify and exclude people from numerous programs, including the Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant, the Community Mental Health Block Grant, the State Opioid Response Grant, the Children’s Mental Health Initiative, and the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Grant programs.

These programs served more than 30,000 Coloradans in 2024, 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 and destabilize systems already stretched thin.

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 U.S. Constitution’s Spending Clause by imposing new funding conditions on states without fair notice or consent.

The coalition is asking 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.

Read a copy of the lawsuit (PDF).

Joining Attorney General Weiser in filing this lawsuit, which was led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

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Media Contact:
Lawrence Pacheco
Chief Communications Officer
(720) 508-6553 office
lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov