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Several state Head Start associations and parent groups are fighting a Trump administration effort to bar undocumented children from the federally funded Head Start program.
The groups, which are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, asked a federal district court on Tuesday to amend an April lawsuit they filed against the Trump administration over Head Start changes. They want to add a challenge to the government’s July 14 directive calling for the exclusion of undocumented children from the program.
Tuesday’s motion marks the second time the plaintiffs have sought to update their lawsuit in an effort to keep up with what they see as a series of abrupt and harmful changes that are chipping away at the 60-year-old program. The groups’ original lawsuit came after the Trump administration closed five regional Head Start offices, cut 60% of Head Start staff, and banned federal grant recipients, including Head Start providers, from promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, or accessibility.
Ming-Qi Chu, deputy director of the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU, said the Trump administration’s July 14 directive represents another step in the government strategy to kill Head Start by continually weakening the program.
“The message of reserving Head Start for U.S. citizens is really at odds with a core purpose of Head Start — to be able to serve immigrant communities,” she said.
While a July 10 press release from the Department of Health and Human Services said Head Start would be “reserved for American citizens from now on,” federal officials later clarified that certain immigrants would still qualify, including legal permanent residents, children who’ve been granted asylum, refugees, and children with humanitarian parole.
Chu said the court hasn’t yet ruled on whether the ACLU can amend the lawsuit to include arguments against the new federal directive, but said she’s optimistic the court will allow it.
The plaintiffs in the case include Parent Voices Oakland, Family Forward Oregon, and Head Start associations from four states: Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Head Start provides free child care, preschool, and various other services to about 750,000 children from low-income families annually. Conservatives have criticized the safety net program for years, but attacks have ramped up in recent years. Project 2025, a conservative policy agenda released in 2023, called for its elimination. In April, a leaked version of the president’s draft budget did the same — though Trump backpedaled on that plan a few weeks later.
Despite escaping the budget knife for now, Head Start has felt the impact of temporary funding freezes, confusing federal directives, and layoffs of federal Head Start workers. Some Head Start programs have closed and laid off workers, halting services to hundreds of children and families.
The Trump administration’s July 14 directive, published a few days after Department of Health and Human Services officials announced the new policy, is the latest wrench to hit Head Start providers and families.
For decades, Head Start was not considered a “federal public benefit” like Medicaid, SNAP, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families — all of which aren’t available to undocumented immigrants. The Trump administration has now reinterpreted the definition of federal public benefit to include Head Start, essentially shutting out undocumented children.
Chu said it’s the job of Congress, not the presidential administration, to determine whether Head Start should be considered a federal public benefit. When Congress did define the term in a 1996 welfare reform law, it specifically cited “postsecondary education” as a federal public benefit, but did not include early childhood or K-12 education.
In the landmark 1982 Plyler v. Doe case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that children have a right to a free public education regardless of immigration status, but that case focused on K-12 education.
The July 14 directive says the rule change aligns with several recent Trump actions “that reflect the will of the American people that aliens should not burden our public benefits system and that our public benefits system should not serve as a magnet for illegal immigration.”
Aside from the definition of federal public benefits, Chu cited other problems with the new Head Start policy. By making it effective immediately, the Trump administration skipped over key processes meant to delay rule changes until the public has a chance to comment and that require a thorough cost-benefit analysis, she said.
“We know that [the Health and Human Services Department] didn’t try to grapple at all with the enormous cost this would have on immigrant families that relied on Head Start for decades,” she said.
It’s unclear how many children the new Trump administration rule could bar from Head Start.
The federal directive states, “The Department anticipates that numerous unqualified aliens will no longer receive benefits under Federally funded programs due to this notice.”
It’s not clear yet whether all Head Start providers would have to verify a child’s immigration status before enrolling them. Some Head Start providers have pointed to language in federal law that exempts nonprofit charities from verifying the immigration status of beneficiaries. Head Start providers include private nonprofits as well as school districts and other public entities. Still, the Health and Human Services Department has not yet issued guidance on what providers will be asked to do.
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
