WASHINGTON – A federal judge has halted a Trump administration rule nationwide that barred children in the U.S. illegally from enrolling in Head Start, a federally funded preschool initiative.

Following lawsuits by Head Start groups across multiple states against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ policy shift, a judge in Washington state issued the ruling. This decision comes after 21 Democratic attorney generals effectively stopped the policy from being enacted in their respective states temporarily.

With the new ruling, the policy is now on hold across the country.

In July, the HHS suggested altering the rule to ban immigrants in the U.S. illegally from accessing particular social services, such as Head Start and community health programs, which had been available under federal law during President Bill Clinton’s tenure.

This policy shift was part of a wider Trump administration strategy to prevent those without legal status from receiving social services by modifying federal eligibility conditions.

Those immigrants would be barred from accessing the impacted programs because they would be reclassified as federal public benefits — an alteration that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said could disincentivize illegal immigration. People in the country unlawfully are largely ineligible for federal public benefits, which include food stamps and student loans.