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Public Charge Rule Overturned
Posted on Nov 02 2020
UPDATE 11/05/2020—The 7th Circuit federal appeals court has put the November 2 district court ruling on hold, as the government appeals. That means the on-again, off-again public charge rule is on again, at least until the next court ruling.
November 2, 2020 – This morning the federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois overturned the latest public charge rule for immigrants. The court ruled in Cook County, et al. v. Wolf, et al. that the newest public charge rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), exceeds the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) authority, is not in accordance with law, and is arbitrary and capricious.
The court’s decision takes effect immediately. That means that nationwide, DHS must immediately stop applying the revised public charge rule as of today, November 2, 2020. The court refused to stay its decision pending appeal.
“This is welcome news for hard working immigrant families,” said Veena Iyer, executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM). “The latest public charge rule was a heartless policy that attempted to impose a wealth test on immigrants.”
The public charge rule has been in place for over a century, but the administration sought to expand the rule to fundamentally alter the immigration system, making it much harder for low- and moderate- income immigrants to obtain Lawful Permanent Resident status (become a “green card holder”) and ultimately citizenship.
Even before taking effect, the proposed rule change was most concerning in its chilling effect, prompting families to withdraw from food assistance, secure housing, and health benefits for fear of being considered a public charge. Families disenrolled from programs such as school lunches that were rumored to be – but were not included – on the list of programs covered by the public charge rule. Even refugees, who are exempt from the public charge rule, considered withdrawing from programs to keep their families safe and health for fear that accepting such supports would hurt their chances of becoming lawful permanent residents.
Legal challenges to the newest public charge rule began as soon as it was published, with courts in different states issuing conflicting temporary injunctions. Today’s order is a final ruling on the merits of the case. The government is almost certain to appeal the ruling.