Attorney General Jennifer Davenport has joined 21 other attorneys general in suing the Department of Homeland Security over a new public charge rule that gives immigration officials broad discretion to deny green cards to immigrants who use public benefits.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenges a rule that allows officials to consider means-tested benefits used by an applicant — and, in some cases, by family members the applicant is legally obligated to support.
Potentially affected programs include Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, emergency medical assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and housing assistance.
“The Trump Administration’s public charge rule is cruel and arbitrary,” Davenport said. “It forces immigrant families into an impossible position: fearing to seek help to cover their basic needs, including for healthcare or food, because of the risk that their green card applications might be flagged for rejection by an immigration official.”
Under the long-standing interpretation of the public charge provision, noncitizens could be denied entry if they were primarily dependent on cash assistance for income maintenance or long-term institutional care at government expense. The Biden administration reaffirmed that approach in a 2022 rule.
The coalition argues that DHS’s new policy unlawfully reverses that interpretation, violates the Administrative Procedure Act and exceeds the agency’s statutory authority. The attorneys general also say the rule fails to establish clear limits on which benefits, or how much use, could affect an immigration application.
Davenport said the uncertainty could discourage eligible immigrants and U.S. citizens from enrolling in or using public programs, creating a “chilling effect” that could worsen hunger, delay medical care and reduce childhood immunizations.
New Jersey is home to nearly 2.2 million immigrants, or almost one-quarter of the state’s population, according to the attorney general’s office. The lawsuit says reduced participation could also increase uncompensated care at safety-net hospitals, strain community health centers and reduce federal Medicaid, CHIP and SNAP funding.
The states are asking a federal judge to declare the rule unlawful and vacate it. The lawsuit was led by the attorneys general of New York, California, and Illinois, along with a coalition of cities and counties led by New York City.