A new Trump administration policy that emboldens immigration officials to deny green cards to anyone it thinks may eventually use government assistance programs is the target of a new lawsuit brought by nearly two dozen states.
Led by New York state, the coalition of mostly Democratic states filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan on Monday, challenging a new Department of Homeland Security “public charge” rule that is set to take effect Friday.
The states allege the new rule, which gives immigration officials significant discretion to consider noncitizens’ lawful participation in public assistance programs when deciding whether to deny entry or permanent residency, is unlawful.
“Congress never intended for the public charge ground to be weaponized against immigrants and their family members who merely use supplemental or temporary amounts of public assistance to which they are lawfully entitled,” the lawsuit says.
“Non-citizens will be faced with the impossible task of weighing their or their family members’ participation in supplemental state and federal programs that improve health, economic mobility, and general well-being, against the negative impacts that such participation will have on their ability to obtain lawful permanent resident status,” it says.
A public charge is defined in immigration law as a noncitizen whom the government deems likely to become dependent on public support programs. The designation is often considered in applications for permanent residency inside the United States.
The new Trump administration rule would allow immigration officers to broadly consider an applicant’s use of any means-tested public benefit when determining green card eligibility. Those programs include Medicaid, SNAP and housing assistance, among others.
The policy also gives immigration officials discretion to examine benefits used by an applicant’s family member, even if that individual is a U.S. citizen.
According to the Federal Register, the new rule “restores broader discretion for DHS officers to evaluate all pertinent facts and aligns with long-standing policy that aliens in the United States should be self-reliant and government benefits should not incentivize immigration.”
“Hardworking families should not be forced to go without the support they need because they fear asking for assistance will get them deported,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Monday. “This rule preys on that fear and counts on families forfeiting food assistance, health care coverage, and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment.
This new policy rescinds a narrower Biden-era policy that defined a public charge as someone who is primarily dependent on government assistance programs. That rule also directed immigration officers to look mostly at cash assistance programs, like supplemental security income and temporary assistance for needy families.
A coalition of cities led by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdami filed a separate lawsuit also challenging the new rule.
“The new public charge rule seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades. New Yorkers will be afraid to see a doctor or ask for help that they are legally entitled to,” Mamdani said in a statement Monday.
“Families who remain fully eligible for benefits will feel a chilling effect, and all New Yorkers will pay for it,” he added.
The first Trump administration introduced a similar rule that defined a public charge as anyone who was likely to receive designated public benefits for more than 12 months total within a 36-month period. At the time, James led a coalition that brought a similar lawsuit and secured a court order blocking the rule from taking effect.
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