Judge vacates Trump’s ‘Public Charge’ rule
By Nelson A. King
A United States federal judge
in Chicago has again prohibited
enforcement of a Trump
administration policy that
makes it more difficult for Caribbean
and other immigrants
to obtain green cards if they
rely on public benefits, such as
food stamps or housing vouchers.
In a 14-page decision on
Monday, Judge Gary Feinerman
of the US District Court
for the Northern District of Illinois
ruled that Trump’s institution
of the Public Charge rule
far outweighed the executive
branch’s authority.
Judge Feinerman, who was
appointed by former US President
Barack Obama, cited a previous
ruling by the US Court of
Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
that determined that Trump’s
interpretation of the public
charge statute did “violence to
the English language and the
statutory context.”
That court had also ruled
that the US Department of
Homeland Security did not
possess “unfettered discretion”
to change the public charge
policy, in spite of “ambiguity”
in the provision.
In his ruling, Judge Feinerman
vacated the Public Charge
rule on two grounds while, at
the same time, permitting the
plaintiffs to proceed in pursuing
a third claim – that the
rule was discriminatory under
the equal protection clause of
the US Constitution, because
it was grounded in bias against
nonwhite immigrants.
The US Department of Homeland
Security claimed that the
rule should only be vacated in
Illinois, but Judge Feinerman
ruled that the Trump administration
Caribbean L 20 ife, November 6-12, 2020
had acceded that it
had violated the Administrative
Procedure Act and that the rule
must be set aside in full when
that happens.
“By the A.P.A.’s plain terms,
an agency rule found unlawful
in whole is not set aside just for
certain plaintiffs or geographic
areas; rather, the rule shall be
set aside, period,” Judge Feinerman
wrote.
In September last year, Judge
Feinerman ruled against the
Public Charge rule when Cook
County, Illinois, first filed a law
suit against the US Department
of Homeland Security and US
Citizenship and Immigration
Service, as well as the Illinois
Coalition for Immigrant and
Refugee Rights (ICIRR), a local
immigrant rights group.
At that time., Cook Country
argued that the Public Charge
rule was “discriminatory” and
“arbitrary”, and that it caused
Caribbean and other immigrants
not to seek important
services, such as emergency
medical care, because they
feared being deported.
On Oct. 14, 2019, just a day
before the Public Charge rule
was to go into effect, Judge
Feinerman ruled in favor with
Cook County and ICIRR.
But, in February this year,
the US Supreme Court overruled
Judge Feinerman’s decision,
staying the injunction
until the results of the federal
government’s appeal is determined.
Four months later, the Chicago
based Seventh Circuit
Appeals Court temporarily
prohibited the Trump administration
from instituting the
rule, adopted under the Immigration
and Nationality Act of
1965, which would permit the
administration to deny visas
and green cards to Caribbean
and other immigrants who, it
views, are likely to depend on
public assistance.
The appeals court ruled
that “Cook County adequately
established its right to bring its
claim”, adding that “the district
court did not abuse its discretion
by granting preliminary
injunctive relief.”
In his ruling on Monday,
Judge Feinerman vacated the
Public Charge rule in full
across America, gave summary
judgment to Cook County and
permitted the ICIRR’s equal
protection suit against Trump
administration to continue.
The Trump administration
is anticipated to appeal the ruling,
with the matter reaching
the US Supreme Court.
In August, New York Attorney
General Letitia James secured
another major victory for Caribbean
and other immigrants
across New York and the rest of
the United States in her lawsuit
against the Trump administration’s
Public Charge rule.
James had led a coalition —
which includes three states and
New York City — that obtained
a ruling from the US Court
of Appeals for the Second Circuit
upholding a preliminary
injunction against the rule that
changed the established meaning
of public charge.
“The Second Circuit has now
recognized that the Trump
administration acted unlawfully
in issuing its Public Charge
Rule,” James said. “The federal
government’s change to
this rule was wrong when it
was first issued, long before the
public health crisis that now
plagues the nation.
New York Attorney General,
Letitia James. Offi ce of New
York Attorney General Letitia James
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