AUGUSTA — The Department of Health and Human Services has shot back at the Maine Municipal Association and the cities of Portland and Westbrook with a counterclaim in a fledgling legal battle that involves a new state initiative to bar undocumented aliens from receiving General Assistance benefits.

Filed Monday in U.S. District Court, the lawsuit asks the court to declare whether municipalities are obliged to determine a General Assistance applicant’s residency status and whether DHHS has to reimburse municipalities for a portion of the cost of General Assistance for undocumented aliens.

The suit also calls on the court to force Portland and Westbrook to stop paying General Assistance to “aliens who are not federally-eligible aliens.”

DHHS argues in the suit that the Maine and U.S. constitutions do not prohibit municipalities from withholding General Assistance from undocumented aliens and do not prohibit DHHS from withholding reimbursements to towns and cities.

General Assistance is a locally administered benefit designed to meet immediate financial crises. The state reimburses municipalities between 50 and 90 percent of the cost.

Gov. Paul LePage and DHHS issued a directive to municipalities earlier this year that said the state would no longer reimburse them for General Assistance they pay to some undocumented immigrants. The state later sent another letter to municipalities that said the state would deny all General Assistance reimbursements to municipalities that did not abide by the new rules related to undocumented aliens.

The legal maneuvering in this case has been unfolding since July. That’s when the Maine Municipal Association, which represents cities and towns, along with the cities of Portland and Westbrook, sued the state to determine if the DHHS directives are legally binding.

Days later, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine and Maine Equal Justice Partners filed a request to join the suit on behalf of two asylum seekers who came to the U.S. in 2013 from the country of Burundi.

Earlier this month, the state filed a request to move the pending lawsuit to U.S. District Court, arguing that there are federal issues at play, including interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.