Good.
The Trump administration restored funding for a $10.5 million refugee health grant a little over a week after Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee sued the federal government for freezing payments to its Refugee Medical Screening Program, according to a Thursday news release.
Menefee and Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones announced the suit during an April 9 news conference. After a a federal court hearing in D.C., a judge ordered the Trump administration to provide a “clear timeline” for funding the grant, which was approved under the Biden administration in October. The Trump administration has since agreed to begin immediately funding the program, according to the release.
“We shouldn’t have had to sue the federal government to get what Congress already approved,” Menefee said. “President Trump’s actions endangered refugee communities and our broader public health. But we fought back — and now those funds are flowing again. This shows what happens when local governments stand up to federal overreach.”
The program operates out of Precinct 4, and provides vaccinations and preventative care to refugees who entered the U.S. legally. Briones said the program is the largest in the state, and played a critical role in ensuring herd immunity and public health for residents across the county. It served 24,000 patients and administered 36,000 vaccinations in 2024, according to an April 9 news release.
Funding for the Refugee Medical Screening Program was cut in January following President Donald Trump’s executive order terminating the U.S’ Refugee Admission’s Program.
Despite the January funding freeze, the county continued providing services and had incurred $1.25 million in expenses that had not been reimbursed, Menefee said. He warned that if the Trump administration did not reverse course, the county would be forced to lay off employees and significantly scale down operations under the program.
See here for the background, and here for a statement from Christian Menefee. I have no idea what caused the quick reversal, but whatever. It is indeed the case that we shouldn’t have had to sue for these already appropriated funds, but we did and we won and that’s the best you could hope for in this situation. Good job, y’all.
What caused their quick reversal? I think they get bored with the pain they imposed last week, bothering with the pain their influencing today.
Could certainly be a lack of legal resources to handle all the lawsuits being thrown at them. Just Security’s Trump Admin Litigation Tracker is doing a good job of databasing them.