Federal judges last week issued temporary injunctions blocking changes to the Department of Homeland Security’s public charge rule. The changes would have made it more difficult for immigrants to get green cards, favoring more wealthy applicants.
The new rule, scheduled to take effect Tuesday, Oct. 15, would have expanded the list of benefits that the federal government could consider in deciding whether a person can enter the United States or obtain lawful permanent residency. These injunctions prevent the public charge definition from being extended to additional federally-funded programs including Medicaid for nonpregnant adults over 21, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP), and Section 8 housing.
Under the current rule, the only public benefit programs subject to public charge consideration are cash assistance programs (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Social Security Income) and long-term care.
“Overnight the rule would expose individuals to economic insecurity, health instability, denial of their path to citizenship and potential deportation,” wrote Judge George Daniels of the Southern District of New York in his Oct. 11th ruling. “It is impossible to argue that there is no irreparable harm for these individuals, plaintiffs and the public at large.”
New York, Connecticut and Vermont filed suit in New York, while Oregon, California, Maine and Pennsylvania filed suit in California arguing their operational costs would rise as immigrant residents disenroll from federally-funded social and health services.
The suit alleges the change would violate equal protection guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, prevent immigrants from participating in programs designed to correct inequality and bolster self-sufficiency, and interfere with the states’ rights to protect their residents.
The lawsuit predicts proposed changes to Public Charge would:
-
Violate the rights of immigrants with disabilities codified in federal law by negatively weighing applicants with “physical or mental condition significant enough to interfere with the person’s ability to care for him or herself.”
-
Undermine access to public healthcare, from preventative screenings for sexually transmitted infections to vaccines funded through Medicaid, putting communities at risk for the spread of disease.
-
Increase the use of emergency rooms and urgent care, increase uncompensated care, and push “more people into the ranks of the uninsured, introduce financial strain on state, local, and private health systems.”
-
Harm the Oregon economy, which relies on 260,000 immigrant workers — more than 12 percent of the workforce.
-
Create a chilling effect among people exempt from the rule. The complaint cites as an example the “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996’’ or welfare reform act, which led to 15 to 35 percent disenrollment rates for noncitizen immigrants and children in mixed-immigration families.
“Plaintiffs have certainly demonstrated that confusion about the national immigration policies is a cause of disenrollment, even for those who will not be subject to the public charge assessment,” California Judge Phyllis Hamilton wrote in her order.
Multnomah County encourages anyone who has questions or concerns about how public charge may affect them or members of their family to consult an immigration attorney or call Oregon’s Public Benefits Hotline at 800-520-5292.
