HOUSTON – A group of 14 states in the country filed a lawsuit before the Supreme Court of Justice in order to be allowed to defend the modification to the public charge rule, a measure adopted by the administration of former President Trump that denied immigration benefits to those who they would have applied for government aid.
Recently President Biden’s administration dropped the defense of the measure before the Supreme Court (contrary to what the Trump administration had been doing) where the case was analyzed, after a lower court in Illinois opposed the measure.
Following this decision, the Supreme Court dismissed the analysis of the lawsuit.
Now, 14 states with Republican administrations are seeking before the Supreme Court to reinstate the analysis of the measure that was finally removed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the middle of this month.
According to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “Taxpayers are forced to pay hundreds of millions each year to support services provided to illegal immigrants.”
Although the public charge rule is a measure that has been in existence for more than 100 years, until 2019 it had not been considered that the mere fact of requesting government aid was an automatic reason for inadmissibility in immigration matters.
The norm has contemplated that it must be verified that the applicant for benefits will effectively become an economic burden for the country’s finances in the long term.
The plaintiff states are Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
Here you can consult the full text of the application.
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