The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal January 12, 2020, that asks the Supreme Court for permission to implement rules that would make it easier for the government to deny immigrants residency or admission to the U.S. because they use public-assistance programs or might use them in the future.
The administration last August adopted the rules, which would expand the pool of people considered likely to become a “public charge” under U.S. immigration law. The designation prevents an immigrant from obtaining a green card and is used to determine which noncitizens can be removed or prevented from entering the U.S. Roughly 544,000 people apply for green cards annually. According to the government, 382,000 are in categories that would make them subject to the new review.
Under the new rules using benefits like Medicaid, housing assistance or food stamps could render an individual inadmissible. Immigrants applying for permanent residency must already show they will not be public charges, or burdens to the country. The new policy expands, however, what factors would be considered to make that determination, and if it is decided that immigrants could potentially become public charges in the future, that legal residency could be denied. Receipt of one or more of those designated public benefits for an aggregate 12 months within any three-year period by any noncitizen will be considered a negative factor in determining whether or not they become a public charge. The rule contains a list of other positive and negative factors, like age, which will be evaluated together to make a public charge inadmissibility determination.
The Administration emphasized that the determination is a “totality of circumstances test,” meaning that receiving one benefit will not be disqualifying for green card or visa applications. According to most experts, immigrants make up a small portion of those getting public benefits, since many are ineligible to get them because of their immigration status. The rule appeared in part a response to some state governors announcing or signalling that states might expand benefits, including to senior immigrants.
A New York federal appeals court blocked the rule after leading industry advocates warned immigrant seniors would be hurt and their use of long-term care services impaired. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit handed down the ruling, denying the Trump Administration’s request to lift a temporary national injunction on the “Public Charge” rule, the Associated Press reported. A New York district court issued the injunction in October.
The New York injunction was one of several that were issued around the time the rule had been scheduled to go into effect in October. But a regional injunction issued in California and another national injunction issued in Washington have already been lifted by other federal appeals courts. That left New York’s as the only nationwide bar to the Trump administration putting the new rule into practice. An injunction in Illinois also is in effect, but applies only to that state.
The three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit heard arguments over the motion to lift the injunction. Judges questioned the government’s attorney on the timing — why the injunction needed to be lifted "at this point" when the lawsuit itself would be heard by a judge in coming months.
Leading Age was among the providers that submitted comments in opposition of the rule after it was first published in August. The National Council of Aging President and CEO James Firman also denounced the rule, which was set to go into effect in October.
“Immigrant seniors who have played by the rules will have to make an impossible choice between going hungry and avoiding needed long-term care support or losing their immigration status,” he said. “This regulation will create a personal and moral hazard for older adults who are looking to age with their families around them.”
More than a dozen states, along with the District of Columbia, challenged the federal government’s rule claiming it targeted poor, legal immigrants trying to become permanent citizens.
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