America First Legal Newsletter – January 24, 2026

We continue advancing our mission to defend America First values. Here’s a look at the latest actions and achievements from America First Legal:

• Announced a new initiative to represent ICE officers and agents targeted by radical activists, holding accountable those who smear law enforcement and fuel violent attacks.

• Sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal health agencies to obtain and expose the Biden Administration’s IOTA program’s race-based organ transplant policies.

• Called for a federal investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools for secretly enabling gender transitions and hiding records from parents in violation of federal law.

• Urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Ninth Circuit ruling that rewrites federal immigration law and cripples border security.

• Sought U.S. Supreme Court review of Washington State laws that separate children from parents who refuse to affirm their child’s claimed “gender identity.”

THIS WEEK’S KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

America First Legal Launches Initiative to Represent ICE Officers and Agents Who Were Defamed and Doxxed

AFL announced that our team will provide legal representation to the heroic U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and agents who have been unlawfully defamed, targeted, or falsely accused in the wake of violent anti-immigration enforcement riots and coordinated smear campaigns. Make no mistake: these brave men and women are facing coordinated harassment campaigns and false accusations meant to intimidate and harass them and sabotage lawful border security.

DHS reports assaults on ICE officers jumped more than 1,300% in 2025, with vehicular attacks surging over 3,200%, showing how radical activists are turning politics into physical danger. AFL will hold accountable those spreading defamatory lies and endangering officers and their families. We will always stand with law enforcement to defend the rule of law against the chaos of open-border extremism.

AFL President Gene Hamilton Discusses Minnesota Church Protestors’ Prosecution & AFL’s ICE Initiative

AFL President Gene Hamilton joined Rob Schmitt Tonight on Newsmax to discuss the Minnesota church protestors’ arrests as well as AFL’s initiative to defend ICE officers who have been targeted by radical activists. 

Watch the interview here. 

America First Legal Sues HHS, CMS, and HRSA to Expose Biden Administration’s Racially Discriminatory Kidney Transplant Policy

AFL is suing Health and Human Services, the Center for Medical Services, and the Health Resources and Services Administration to expose the Biden Administration’s scheme to inject racial preferences into life-and-death organ transplant decisions through its Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model. After President Biden’s radical” executive order requiring all federal agencies to inject “equity” into federal programs, federal health agencies rewrote transplant policy to prioritize race-based frameworks over objective medical need.

The mandatory IOTA program pressures 103 transplant hospitals to use “health equity” plans in referrals, evaluations, and waitlisting instead of strictly clinical criteria. When AFL demanded IOTA-related records, the agencies stonewalled, forcing litigation to uncover the truth. Our lawsuit is part of its broader fight to dismantle the Left’s DEI bureaucracy and restore merit-based medicine in America’s healthcare system.

America First Legal Files Federal Complaint with U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice Against Fairfax County Public Schools for Encouraging and Deliberately Concealing Students’ “Gender Transition” from Parents

AFL has filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice, calling for an investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) for its “guidance document” titled Gender-Expansive and Transgender Students Guidance. This guidance document secretly facilitates students’ “gender transitions” and deliberately hides records from parents, encourages social transitions at school, changes and conceals students’ names and pronouns, keeps internal files, and deceives parents by using a different identity when communicating with them. 

The filing makes clear that federal law under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Constitution is clear: schools cannot cut parents out of major educational and health decisions or conceal student records. FCPS is already under federal scrutiny for Title IX violations due to AFL’s initiative on behalf of the county’s families. AFL will keep fighting to protect families and stop schools from pushing dangerous gender ideology in secret.

America First Legal, Representing a Coalition of U.S. Senators Led by Ted Cruz, Renews Fight to Protect Border Security After U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Ninth Circuit’s Ruling

AFL, working with outside counsel, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Noem v. Al Otro Lado, backing lawmakers, including Rep. Darrell Issa and Sens. Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Josh Hawley, and others, to stop courts from rewriting federal immigration law. The case challenges a Ninth Circuit ruling that crippled the border-security tool known as “metering,” which helps prevent surges and chaos at the border. 

The appellate court wrongly treated illegal aliens still in Mexico as if they had already entered the United States, stripping the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of a commonsense enforcement mechanism. This ruling defies the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), usurps Congress’s authority, and invites lawlessness and future border surges. AFL’s amicus brief argues the decision ignores the plain meaning of the INA, and urges the Supreme Court to reverse the decision and restore lawful border enforcement.

America First Legal Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Review Case Involving Washington State Law that Incentivizes Kids to Run Away from Parents

AFL, alongside outside counsel, filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of parents and advocacy entities. The petition seeks the high court’s review of a Ninth Circuit ruling that blocks parents from challenging Washington laws that undermine parental authority over children claiming “gender identity.” Under Washington’s scheme, runaway minors can receive so-called “gender-affirming care” without parental knowledge, effectively encouraging children to turn to the state instead of their families. 

The Ninth Circuit absurdly ruled parents aren’t “injured” unless their child has already fled or suffered permanent harm, forcing families to wait until damage is done before seeking justice. This violates the Fourteenth Amendment and the fundamental right of parents to direct the care and upbringing of their children. This important case is another example of AFL’s commitment to fighting government overreach, protecting families, and defending children from radical gender ideology imposed by the state.

AMERICA FIRST LEGAL IN THE NEWS:

Fox News: School district in the hot seat amid fresh allegations of hiding students' gender transition

“The Trump-aligned lawfare group America First Legal (AFL) submitted a federal civil rights complaint Thursday, accusing the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) system of violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and infringing upon fundamental parental rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment through its ‘Regulation 2603-Gender-Expansive and Transgender Students Guidance Document.’”

Just the News: America First Legal asks SCOTUS to intervene on Washington trans kids law

“America First Legal on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to intervene in a case challenging a Washington state law separating children from parents who refuse to acknowledge their preferred gender identity.”

The Conversation: Trump’s second term is proving different from his first. This time it’s imperial.

“Miller’s America First Legal Foundation, for example, spent the Biden years creating policy agendas and drafting executive orders. Because of this pre-planning, Trump could appoint his second cabinet much faster than his first and hit the ground running. What followed was a flurry of executive orders and legislation on immigration, federal regulations, and the economy.”

America First Legal Foundation is an IRS-approved section 501(c)(3) public charity. Your donation to America First Legal Foundation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

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