The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Trump administration can enforce its new “public charge” immigration rule while challenges work their way through the judicial system. The new rule makes it easier to deny immigrants residency or entry to the United States, if they are likely to receive assistance like food stamp benefits.
In a five-page order, the Supreme Court suspended injunctions issued by a federal district court in New York City, while the government appeals to the federal appellate court based in New York City, and possibly the Supreme Court as well. A group of states and immigration groups are challenging the rule as unreasonable.
The White House said the stay issued by the Supreme Court “is a massive win” that would allow it to require immigrants to be financially self-sufficient. “Two courts of appeals had already ruled that the government should be able to implement these regulations, but one single district judge’s nationwide injunction remained.”
Anti-hunger advocates say rule, which was published last August and immediately tied up in court, has depressed participation in public nutrition programs, mostly among immigrant groups, such as asylum seekers, refugees and legal permanent residents, who are not covered by the rule. “The chilling effect goes beyond SNAP,” said the Food Research and Action Center earlier this month, pointing to reports of lower participation in WIC and child nutrition programs, which are not part of the Department of Homeland Security rule.
“The regulation itself directly affects only a small number of people, but the Trump administration is counting on fear to amplify the harm,” said Olivia Golden, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy. The National Immigration Law Center said lawsuits challenging the rule remain active in court “and the regulation may be overturned by courts hearing those cases.”
Immigration law says individuals can be denied entry to or residence in the United States if they are likely to become a “public charge,” meaning someone who would rely on public benefits. For years, that was defined as someone who would be on welfare or long-term institutional care.
The new definition would cover people considered more likely than not “to receive even modest assistance from a far broader set of benefits — including benefits that help many workers, like SNAP…and Medicaid — at any point over their lifetime,” said the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in an analysis last fall.
“Immigration officials will look at many factors to determine the likelihood of benefit receipt, including whether the immigrant’s current family income is above 125 percent of the federal poverty level. The new rules will so radically change the public charge definition that about half of all U.S.-born citizens would likely be deemed a public charge — and by implication, considered a drag on the United States — if this definition were applied to them,” the Center’s analysis said.
The Kaiser Family Foundation said last fall that nearly half of community health centers reported that immigrant patients declined to enroll in Medicaid last year and nearly one-third of the centers said some patients dropped or did not renew coverage. “Interviews with health center staff report similar findings and indicate that fear and confusion surrounding recent immigration policy contribute to these changes.”
The Supreme Court order in Department of Homeland Security vs. New York is available here.