BOSTON – September 22, 2026- Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell released the following statement after winning her lawsuit stopping the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to gut essential health, education, and social service programs for low-income families.
“This victory protects access to a high-quality education, adequate healthcare, and community support for all families in the Commonwealth, regardless of their immigration status,” said AG Campbell. “I will always defend residents’ ability to access the resources they need and protect the federal funding essential services rely on.”
In July 2025, AG Campbell joined 20 other attorneys general in a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s reinterpretation of a decades-old law governing access to social services.
Yesterday, a federal court granted the coalition’s motion for summary judgment, vacating the administration’s sweeping reinterpretation that threatened programs like Head Start, Title X family planning clinics, food banks, domestic violence shelters, adult education, and community health centers. The court also enjoined the administration from implementing its unlawful reinterpretation of federal law and enforcing it against Massachusetts and the other plaintiff states.
In Massachusetts, nearly 96,000 patients are served by Title X health clinics, which are designed to provide low-barrier entry to individuals needing sexual and reproductive healthcare. Under the Administration’s new policy, the state could have been required to immediately conduct an immigration verification process, which would be incredibly costly and burdensome on both the provider and patient, and more importantly, would create barriers to treatment for all individuals regardless of immigration status. Without access to treatment, the likelihood of adverse outcomes such as unplanned pregnancies, lack of treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and undiagnosed cancers are increased.
Additionally, over 44,000 adult learners in Massachusetts utilize career and technical education (CTE) programs funded by federal grant dollars each year. Under the Administration’s abrupt policy change, the state could have been required to verify the immigration status of all grant recipients. The administrative costs and burdens of doing so risked discouraging state institutions from continuing to engage in the programming. This threatened postsecondary CTE program opportunities for adult students, which could lead to a higher unemployment rate and fewer adults with industry credentials in areas where Massachusetts has significant labor market needs.
AG Campbell was joined in filing this lawsuit by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
