SEATTLE, WA — A coalition of Head Start providers and parent advocacy groups on Tuesday filed a motion to amend their lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict access to the Head Start Program.
According to an ACLU press release, the amended complaint targets the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) latest directive, which seeks to exclude immigrant families from early childhood education by restricting participation based on immigration status.
The press release stated the new HHS rule would block certain children’s access to Head Start for the first time in the program’s 60-year history.
The directive reinterprets a nearly 30-year-old statute by expanding the definition of “federal public benefit” under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) to include Head Start, the press release said.
The policy was declared effective immediately, with no implementation guidance provided to Head Start programs, the ACLU noted.
As a result, the press release said, providers and families are left confused and fearful, uncertain how the new rule will be enforced.
“Our programs already see families living in fear,” said Lauri Frichtl, executive director of Illinois Head Start. “Many are paralyzed, unsure if it’s safe to bring their children to Head Start. This directive adds to that fear, denying children critical educational opportunities and threatening the well-being of entire communities.”
The plaintiffs argue the directive contradicts both PRWORA and the Head Start Act.
“HHS is defying Congress by attempting to impose an immigration-based restriction that neither PRWORA nor the Head Start Act requires or permits,” said Ming-Qi Chu, deputy director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project.
Chu said Head Start had never previously been understood as a “federal public benefit,” and called the reinterpretation “unlawful and a direct attack on some of the very families this program was created to serve.”
Lori Rifkin, litigation director at the Impact Fund, said the directive’s exclusionary language is illegal.
“The administration has escalated its attack… by declaring that HHS’s unilateral reinterpretation of a law passed by Congress takes effect immediately,” Rifkin said.
“This is a clear attempt to evade the required review process, and we are asking the Court to hold the administration accountable to the rule of law,” she added.
The plaintiffs warned the reinterpretation threatens to undermine a program that has served more than 40 million children and families nationwide.
“Hundreds of children and thousands of jobs will be affected by this directive,” said Clarissa Doutherd, executive director of Parent Voices Oakland.
“Locally, over half of the children from these programs come from immigrant families and the directive will significantly chill participation in our Head Start programs,” she said.
Doutherd said the directive’s reach extends far beyond classrooms. “Immigrants are threaded through the fabric of our communities, and threatening them tears communities apart.”
The Trump administration’s staff cuts, delays, and immigration directive threaten early education, health, and social services that more than 800,000 children and families rely on each year, the press release said.
The plaintiffs have asked the court to declare the dismantling of Head Start unlawful and unconstitutional and to block the administration’s continued defiance of Congress’ mandate to serve low-income families.
