As Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton sued in April 2024 to stop Uplift Harris, a Harris County program that would have paid $500 a month to low-income residents in and around Houston, and the Texas Supreme Court has kept it blocked; in June 2026 he won an order freezing the county's free legal help for residents facing deportation.
His Criminal Investigation Division detained 50 people in Houston-area raids in January 2026 and turned them over for deportation, and his office prosecuted a Houston voter until a judge dismissed the case. He also urged the Senate to confirm Pam Bondi, whose Justice Department ended civil rights agreements covering Black and Latino Houston neighborhoods.
What It Cost: Harris County Residents Under Ken Paxton's Lawsuits, Raids and Prosecution
- Guaranteed income blocked. The Harris County residents chosen for Uplift Harris were promised this money and were counting on these payments to stay afloat, the county said after the Texas Supreme Court kept the program on hold.
- Legal help frozen. Low-income Harris County residents held in ICE custody lost access to the county's free deportation defense while the freeze Paxton won stays in place; the fund had received more than $1.3 million.
- Houston-area detentions. Fifty people detained by Paxton's investigators in the Houston area in January 2026 were turned over to ICE for deportation, the office announced.
- Neighborhood protections. Houston residents in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods lost a 2021 federal redlining consent order and a 2023 illegal-dumping settlement when the Justice Department ended them early.
- Youth mentoring. The co-founder of Houston's Teen and Police Service Academy told NPR after the Justice Department grant cuts: "We got hit pretty hard."
Ken Paxton's Lawsuits, Raids and Prosecution in Harris County, and the Justice Department He Backed
- Paxton's Lawsuit Has Kept $500 Monthly Payments From 1,928 Low-Income Harris County Residents Paused Since 2024. On April 9, 2024, Ken Paxton sued Harris County over Uplift Harris, under which the program would randomly select 1,928 eligible Harris County residents by lottery to receive $500 cash payments each month for 18 months. Two lower courts in Houston denied his attempts to block the program; he then sought a writ of mandamus from the Texas Supreme Court, which kept the payments blocked in June 2024, and when the county tried a second version, Paxton obtained another stay blocking Harris County in December 2024. The decision is not a final ruling, but the program is currently paused indefinitely, so the families chosen have not received the payments; Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said the ruling hit them and "every one of the 750,000 people living under the crushing weight of poverty in Harris County."
- Paxton Won a Court Order Freezing Harris County's Free Legal Help for People Facing Deportation. Ken Paxton sued Harris County, alleging that it unlawfully directed more than $1.3 million in taxpayer funds to legal defense for immigrants in federal deportation proceedings. On June 26, 2026, at his request, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the county to stop spending money on its Immigrant Legal Services Fund and Immigration Resource Hotline while the case continues, and Paxton praised the court for "correctly ordering that this unlawful program is frozen as the case continues." The program, created in 2020, provides free legal services to eligible Harris County residents facing deportation while in ICE custody, for applicants who earn less than 80% of the area's median family income.
- Paxton's Office Detained 50 People in Houston-Area Raids in January 2026 and Turned Them Over for Deportation. Under the 287(g) agreement Ken Paxton signed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on February 2, 2025, his Criminal Investigation Division carried out raids throughout the Houston area that detained 50 people, he announced on January 7, 2026: "Alongside the Trump Administration, my office helps round up these criminals." Each person his investigators detain is handed to ICE for removal, into a detention system where, according to ICE data reported by KPBS in August 2026, more than 70% of them do not have criminal convictions.
- Paxton's Office Prosecuted Hervis Rogers, a Houston Voter on Parole, Until a Judge Dismissed the Case in 2022. Ken Paxton's office brought illegal-voting charges against Hervis Rogers, a Houston man who voted while still on parole from a felony burglary conviction after waiting about six hours in line at Texas Southern University in March 2020, charges that carried a possible sentence of two to 20 years in prison. Rogers said he did not know he was ineligible. A judge dismissed the case in October 2022, after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the state cannot unilaterally prosecute election fraud cases; Rogers had been out on bail since 2021, and he said, "It has been horrible to go through this."
- Paxton Urged Pam Bondi's Confirmation; Her Justice Department Ended Houston's Redlining and Illegal-Dumping Agreements. On December 3, 2024, Ken Paxton signed a letter of attorneys general urging the Senate to swiftly confirm Pam Bondi as the next United States Attorney General, calling her "a superb choice to serve our nation and the public interest." In 2025, with Bondi as attorney general, the department ended early a 2021 consent order over redlining of majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Houston area and a 2023 settlement over the city's response to illegal dumping in Black and Latino Houston neighborhoods, according to Red Line for Civil Rights, a tracker run by former Justice Department lawyers. Bondi's department also cut crime-prevention grants, and the Teen and Police Service Academy, a mentoring program in Houston, had to reduce its staff.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ken Paxton on Harris County
Why did Ken Paxton sue Harris County over guaranteed income?
Ken Paxton sued Harris County in April 2024, saying, "This scheme is plainly unconstitutional." The Texas Supreme Court has kept the program blocked at his request, and Houston Landing reported that it is paused indefinitely while the case continues.
Did Ken Paxton stop Harris County's legal aid for immigrants facing deportation?
Ken Paxton has stopped it for now: he won a June 26, 2026 order from the Texas Supreme Court that freezes Harris County's Immigrant Legal Services Fund and Immigration Resource Hotline while his lawsuit continues, and he said of the county's spending: "It's unacceptable, it's illegal, and it will not stand in the Lone Star State."
Did Ken Paxton's office conduct immigration raids in Houston?
Yes. Ken Paxton announced on January 7, 2026 that his Criminal Investigation Division had detained 50 people in raids throughout the Houston area, working under the 287(g) agreement he signed with ICE in February 2025; he was the first Texas law enforcement official to sign one.
Last updated: 2026-10-25