EL PASO, TEXAS — A lawsuit filed Monday by 21 states and the District of Columbia argues that the Trump administration’s “public charge” regulation violates the federal Immigration and Nationality Act and that it is arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. Plaintiff states, led by New York, California, and Illinois, argue that the regulation will undermine their health and social welfare priorities and result in economic harm. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and plaintiff states ask the court to vacate the regulation, which will otherwise take effect on Friday.
Plaintiff states’ arguments as to the regulation’s overbroadness, arbitrariness, and consequences, parallel those detailed by a comment opposing the proposed regulation, led by the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition and cosigned by 725 organizations nationwide. The comment describes the regulation’s reversal of common-sense guardrails against arbitrary and biased green card decisions, opening the green card process to political influence and personal prejudice.
In response to the lawsuit’s filing, the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition released the following statement by its executive director, Adriana Cadena.
“We applaud Attorney General James, Attorney General Bonta, Attorney General Raoul, and their colleagues for standing firm against this abusive policy and standing with the people they serve. This dangerous regulation is a direct assault on immigrant families, and a threat to our country’s health and economic security, and we hope the court will act quickly to strike it down.”
