NYC sues Trump over new rule that may deny green cards to immigrants using public assistance
Photo credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Monday that New York City will join several cities in a lawsuit against the Trump administration over a new rule that lets officials deny green cards to immigrants who use government‑funded assistance programs. The new public charge rule, which will take effect on Friday, September 18, would affect immigrants using Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), public housing assistance, and other public assistance programs. As reported by Pix 11, the Department of Homeland Security states that the rule is intended to ensure that immigrants remain self‑sufficient rather than being dependent on taxpayer‑funded benefits. City officials called the new rule “an assault on immigrant families.”
According to the new, expanded policy, finalized last month, immigration officers will also be allowed to consider age, health, family status, finances, education, and skills when determining whether an individual might be likely to rely on government assistance and to deny immigration status to green card or visa applicants based on this determination. The new rule does not automatically deny green card applications or visas to immigrants who get public assistance.
“For citizens, or an individual seeking humanitarian relief like asylum, the new rule not only sweeps aside more than a century of established law,” Mamdani said. “It is intentionally vague as a means of creating uncertainty and fear, to isolate immigrant New Yorkers, to force them to make an impossible choice between meeting their basic needs and continuing to live in the city they love. Immigrants are New Yorkers, and yet we know that all too often, they are not treated as such.”
Mamdani added, “It is estimated that up to 4 million people across the country could unenroll from their healthcare alone, including 1.8 million children. None of this is abstract. People could die. The data is clear. Denying people services does not erase their need. It compounds it, generating a greater cost to our system that will be placed on the backs of working people for years to come.”
The city is filing the lawsuit alongside a separate challenge led by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Clara County, Seattle, King County in Washington, and the Public Rights Project are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit led by New York City.
According to a public statement by corporation counsel Steven Banks, in 2019, New York City and New York State, along with a coalition of community partners, were able to prevail in court to block a similar federal public charge rule.
Banks called the new public charge rule “expansive and unlawful,” saying it will impose unnecessary fear and uncertainty on immigrant families.
“Our city is stronger when families are healthy, children are supported, and people are able to work, contribute, and participate fully in their communities,” Banks said. “A rule that discourages people from seeking essential services does not make families more self-sufficient; it can make them less secure, less healthy, and ultimately more vulnerable. Our lawsuit seeks to permanently enjoin the Department of Homeland Security from implementing this dangerous rule.”
Calling the extended rule “capricious,” James: “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 understand.”
“This administration has exceeded its authority under federal immigration law. This is not what Congress intended. This is an interpretation by an agency that does not have the authority. It violates the Administrative Procedure Act.”
Mamdani said access to public programs would not change and instructed people across the city not to disenroll from programs without consulting a legal advisor. The city is also partnering with organizations across the five boroughs to host community forums and clinics and training outreach teams to support those who need it.
New Yorkers with questions about how the rule could affect them can call the city’s legal support hotline at 800‑354‑0365.
RELATED:
Get Insider Updates with Our Newsletter!
