Attorney General William Tong today secured a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to gut essential health, education, and social service programs for low-income families. In July, Attorney General Tong joined 20 other attorneys general in challenging the federal government’s reinterpretation of a decades-old law governing access to social services. Today, a federal court granted the coalition’s request for a preliminary injunction, blocking sweeping new rules that threatened to strip funding from programs like Head Start, Title X family planning clinics, food banks, domestic violence shelters, adult education, and community health centers.

“In a rush to punish immigrant children and families, the Trump Administration lawlessly imperiled access to healthcare, education and social service programs for thousands upon thousands of Connecticut families. Their actions were cruel, unjustified and unlawful, we sued to stop them, and today’s injunction shows that the law is strongly on our side,” said Attorney General Tong.