Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched a high-stakes legal battle against Harris County, accusing the state’s most populous county of violating the Texas Constitution by allocating $1.3 million in taxpayer funds to provide legal assistance to illegal immigrants facing deportation.
In a lawsuit filed this week, Paxton argues the county’s decision to fund a network of left-wing immigration advocacy groups — including BakerRipley, RAICES, KIND, the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project, and Justice for All Immigrants — is both unconstitutional and politically motivated. The funds were approved in October by a 4-1 vote of the Harris County Commissioners Court, with Republican Commissioner Tom Ramsey casting the lone dissent.
“We must stop the left-wing radicals who are robbing Texans to prevent illegals from being deported by the Trump Administration,” Paxton said in a fiery statement. “This is evil and wicked. Millions upon millions of illegals invaded America during the last administration, and they must be sent back to where they came from.”
At the heart of Paxton’s lawsuit is the “gift clause” of the Texas Constitution, which prohibits public funds from being used for private purposes that do not serve a clear public benefit. According to Paxton, the county’s grant program constitutes a misuse of taxpayer money because it provides “private benefits” to non-citizens and organizations not directly accountable to the public.
BREAKING: I’m suing Harris County for unlawfully directing over $1.3 million in taxpayer money to defend illegal aliens from deportation.
We must stop the left-wing radicals who are robbing Texans to prevent illegals from being deported by the Trump Administration. pic.twitter.com/Yqp0v9Nt0P
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) November 11, 2025
“These groups are not arms of government, and these immigrants are not entitled to taxpayer-funded legal services simply because they entered the country illegally,” Paxton’s office said.
But Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee is pushing back hard, framing the lawsuit as nothing more than a “cheap political stunt” designed to fuel Paxton’s rising Senate campaign. “This program is perfectly legal,” Menefee said. “It ensures that people in our communities have access to due process — something every American should support.”
Menefee also characterized the program as an act of local compassion and fairness, and painted Paxton’s lawsuit as an attempt to erase those values under a wave of partisan grandstanding. “At a time when the president has unleashed ICE agents to terrorize immigrant neighborhoods, deport U.S. citizens, and trample the law, it’s shameful that Republican state officials are joining in,” he said.
This legal clash comes at a time of intensifying friction between state and local governments across the U.S., particularly in states like Texas where urban Democratic strongholds routinely pursue policies in defiance of state-level conservative leadership. Harris County, which includes Houston, has frequently been at the center of this divide — not only on immigration, but also on election laws, bail reform, and policing.
Paxton, who recently announced a primary challenge against Sen. John Cornyn, is using the lawsuit to further emphasize his hardline stance on immigration — a key issue for conservative voters in Texas. With Rep. Wesley Hunt also in the mix, the race is shaping up to be a litmus test for where Texas Republicans stand on border policy and constitutional authority.
