Harris County Courthouse
AUSTIN - On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court signed an order temporarily stopping Harris County’s efforts to use taxpayer dollars to fund the defense of illegal aliens in federal deportation proceedings.
Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Harris County for unlawfully directing more than $1.3 million in taxpayer funds to defend illegal aliens from deportation.
The high court ordered that Harris County is barred from continuing to disburse its funds as the case continues to be litigated.
“This is a major win for protecting taxpayer dollars,” said Paxton. “It’s deeply wrong that any Texan should be forced to have their hard-earned dollars taken from them only to be handed out to defend illegal aliens. It’s unacceptable, it’s illegal, and it will not stand in the Lone Star State.
“I commend the Texas Supreme Court for correctly ordering that this unlawful program is frozen as the case continues.”
The Supreme Court granted the state’s motion for temporary relief and ordered Harris County to refrain from disbursing funds in connection with the Immigrant Legal Services Fund and the Immigration Resource Hotline.
“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,” the order states. “Among other things, it is not clear that the County has constitutional or statutory authority to conduct the program.
“The county offers several defenses, which in granting this motion we do not reject … and our decision today is not a determination of the merits.”
Court records show Gov. Greg Abbott filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing that paying private attorneys to represent someone else — in the tribunals of a different sovereign — is plainly gratuitous.
“The county’s use of taxpayer funds to provide attorneys in federal immigration proceedings is unsupported by any consideration and serves no legitimate public purpose,” the brief states. “For these reasons, the governor respectfully urges the court to grant the petition for a writ of mandamus.”
Supreme Court case No. 26-0171
