Trump policy barring migrants from Head Start blocked nationwide

Source: Reuters

September 11, 2025 7:14 PM EDT Updated 11 hours ago


Sept 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday issued a nationwide ruling preventing U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from barring children living in the U.S. illegally from enrolling in the federally funded preschool program Head Start.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez in Seattle at the request of Head Start associations in several states issued a nationwide injunction barring the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from enforcing the new immigration-related restrictions anywhere in the United States.

He ruled a day after a different federal judge in Rhode Island in a separate case by 21 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia issued an injunction halting the policy from being implemented within their own states.

"Today the court was clear: HHS does not have the authority to impose an immigration-based restriction on Head Start families," Jennesa Calvo-Friedman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-policy-barring-migrants-head-start-blocked-nationwide-2025-09-11/