Tom Perumean/Houston Public Media
Acting Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, center, speaks about a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. At far right is Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones.
Harris County is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., over the withholding of federal funding for the county’s Refugee Health Services Program.
The program operated by Harris County Public Health annually serves about 11,000 refugees and other immigrants with documented legal status, providing health screenings and more than 35,000 immunizations per year, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in a federal court in Washington D.C. But it now faces staff layoffs and other financial challenges after appropriations from the federal Office for Refugee Resettlement were halted by the administration of President Donald Trump, who also suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
The lawsuit claims the funding freeze violates the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution as well as the Administrative Procedure Act, and asks a judge to compel the federal government to disperse funding authorized by Congress.
“We’re taking them to court to force the release of more than $10 million in refugee resettlement funds, funds which Congress has already approved, and funds our community is entitled to,” acting Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said at a Wednesday news conference at the Burnett-Bayland Community Center in Houston’s Gulfton neighborhood. “In October, Harris County was cleared to receive this money to operate our refugee health screening program, which has served the people of this county for 40 years. This is not new.”
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The U.S. Department of Justice, which is representing Kennedy and the Department of Health and Human Services, said it could not comment about ongoing litigation.
Harris County was awarded a $10.5 million grant for its program in October, under the administration of President Joe Biden. But, according to its lawsuit, the county has not been reimbursed for nearly $1.25 million in expenses it has incurred since Jan. 20 — the day Trump was inaugurated.
The county’s Refugee Health Services Program is headquartered in Precinct 4, where Commissioner Lesley Briones is the elected representative.
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“When you have the greatest country in the world turning its back on its commitments, on its Constitution, on its separation of powers, on funding that has already been appropriated by Congress, this is not the best of America,” Briones said. “We are a country that honors the rule of law and honors its commitments.”