Just days after state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) lost his bid for the Senate, the county that holds the state’s capital has allotted $500,000 of taxpayer funds to cover legal aid programs for illegal immigrants facing deportation and other immigration-related matters.
Commissioners for Travis County, which includes the city of Austin, voted unanimously this week to make half a million dollars available to help residents who are illegally present in the United States, as well as others navigating the immigration system. It is the latest instance of Democrats moving forward with a progressive initiative they had avoided while Republicans were in power.
Travis County commissioners moved Tuesday to give $500,000 to American Gateways, a Central Texas-based nonprofit group that offers no- and low-cost immigration legal services.
“We have a new governor, we have a new attorney general,” Travis County Judge Andy Brown said during the commissioners court’s meeting in Austin.
Brown disclosed that the county had discreetly funded American Gateways through two $250,000 payments in September 2025 and April 2026, which were not made public until now “because of who our attorney general was.”
The move flies in the face of Paxton, who had threatened to sue the county public defender’s office earlier this year when they proposed such a fund. Earlier this year, the commissioners denied a $425,850 funding request for the county public defender’s office for such expenses.
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Paxton’s loss to Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-TX), as well as Democrats’ sweeping of all statewide offices in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, means the county is unlikely to face legal action from the state attorney general’s office. Any such lawsuit filed before January 2027 would likely be withdrawn by Paxton’s successor.
Paxton had sued Harris and Bexar counties, which include Houston and San Antonio, respectively, after each created taxpayer-funded programs to cover legal aid for immigrants, regardless of their legal status.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
