NYC sues Trump admin over controversial immigrant welfare rule

New York City is leading a coalition of cities and counties, including Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Santa Clara County, and King County, to sue the federal government for the gross illegality of their new public charge rule and the irreparable damage that it will cause. We are filing our lawsuit alongside a separate challenge led by Attorney General James. Just last month, the federal government finalized a set of drastic and unlawful changes to our country's public charge rule, a rule that makes it possible for someone to be denied immigration status based on the likelihood of their need for public benefits. Set to go into effect this coming Friday, September 18th, the new public charge rule expands the list of public benefits that might count against green card or visa applicants. The last time the federal government tried this in 2019, New York City joined my office's a lawsuit that successfully blocked the law, and we will do it again. This time, my office asked that local leaders organize a municipal coalition of cities in a parallel suit, because the harms threatened by this rule change require an all-of-government response. The administration's new rule is much broader than any public charge rule in history, and it will provide so much discretion to immigration officers that the rules are so opaque and difficult to comprehend and understand. The harm is that much greater. Make no mistake, this is an undisguised effort to strip New Yorkers of the services they rely on, the public benefits they are entitled to. Families, including those with children who are U.S. citizens, have already begun to forego essential services like SNAP, Medicaid, and affordable housing out of the fear that if they use these programs, immigration officers could use it as justification to deny them a future in our country. This administration has exceeded its authority under federal immigration law. This is not what Congress intended. This is an interpretation by an agency which does not have the authority. It violates the Administrative Procedure Act. And again, it's a term that the mayor loves to use. It is capricious.