Idaho judge makes provisional ruling on law blocking HIV treatment to immigrants

An Idaho judge has issued a preliminary injunction that allows some local immigrants to keep receiving HIV medication under a federal program.

Fourth District Judge Amanda Brailsford in Boise on Thursday also granted provisional class-action status to a lawsuit challenging a state law that prohibited such aid. That allows continued access for the time being to anyone in Idaho who has HIV and could qualify for the federal program.

“This ruling saves lives,” Abby Davids, a plaintiff and local doctor, said in a news release. “If enforced, HB 135 would have forced me into the position of being unable to treat many of my patients with HIV. I feel immense relief knowing I can continue giving all my patients the critical HIV treatment they need.”

The other plaintiffs are five unnamed immigrants who take HIV medication. The defendants are officials with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Attorney General Raúl Labrador.

Health and Welfare spokesperson AJ McWhorter declined to comment, citing pending litigation. A spokesperson from Labrador’s office did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.

The lawsuit stems from a law passed in 2025 by Idaho lawmakers that prevents immigrants from accessing public services like soup kitchens, prenatal care and crisis counseling. Those portions of the law remain in effect,though lawyers challenging the HIV restrictions have signaled a willingness to expand their fight.

Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, said when he sponsored the bill that the state needed to prioritize sending its limited resources to Idaho citizens.

Lawyers representing Davids and the immigrants sued over Health and Welfare’s decision to stop immigrants from accessing HIV medication through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, according to the lawsuit. The program is named for an Indiana teenager who contracted AIDS at age 13 after a hemophilia treatment, according to Britannica. White died at age 18 in 1990.

The case centers in part around a 1996 federal law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which sets forth when undocumented immigrants are eligible or ineligible for federal benefits. Generally, the law says immigrants are not eligible for any benefits, but it makes an exception for the treatment of symptoms of communicable diseases.

The lawyers representing the state have argued that Davids and the immigrants the plaintiffs don’t have the legal right to sue over the loss of federal benefits. The state also argued that the federal government has explicitly allowed states to create their own requirements for public benefits that differ from the 1996 law.

HIV medication is still available, according to the state’s response to the motion for provisional class certification. The only difference is that now, Idaho won’t pay for it, the response said. The immigrants who are HIV-positive can always return to their home countries, lawyers for the state said.

“Every dollar that goes to pay for treatment for an alien who is not eligible is a dollar that is not available to pay for treatment for someone who is eligible for the grant funds,” the state said in a response to the motion for a preliminary injunction.

Davids and the immigrants argued they do have the legal right to sue.

For patients to receive the HIV medication under the federal program, they already have to show that they can’t get the treatment another way, the lawyers for the immigrants said.

The immigrants who are suing cannot just return home, they said. One of them has lived in the U.S. since age 4, and others have pending asylum applications, meaning they believe they will face persecution in their home countries. Some also have young children who are U.S. citizens.

“Defendants’ argument that Plaintiffs could avoid harm by self-deporting is indefensible,” lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote.

In certain areas, the federal government has created enough regulations that there is no room for states to make their own. The immigrants’ lawyers argued that the 1996 law is one area where there’s no space for other rules. Doctors can’t comply with both federal law allowing the treatment of communicable diseases and Idaho’s law preventing immigrants from accessing that treatment, according to a court filing.

Davids and the immigrants sued on June 26 . After a court hearing on July 15, Brailsford extended a temporary restraining order and issued a provisional class certification.

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