On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected an effort by Republican state officials to bring back former President Donald Trump’s policy of blocking certain immigrants from gaining lawful permanent residency in the United States. According to the Washington Examiner, the court rejected an appeal by 14 GOP-led state attorneys general who were trying to start a legal defense of the former president’s “public charge” rule after the Biden administration stopped enforcing the measure and later rescinded the rule on March 3, 2021.
The policy, which went into effect in February 2020, widened the definition of “public charges” who were ineligible for legal U.S. permanent residency. It applied to immigrants who specifically received government aid for low-income people, such as Medicaid health insurance and food stamps, for more than one year in any three-year period.
Republican officials argued that the rule had collectively saved states approximately $1 billion yearly. Last year, the high court heard arguments in a separate challenge brought by Republican lawmakers to intervene but dismissed the case without resolving the matter. However, Chief Justice John Roberts expressed concern about how the Biden administration evaded certain procedures for reversing the Trump policy, noting that it raised a “host of important questions” for future cases.
In September of last year, President Joe Biden introduced a new regulation for determining who is considered a “public charge” among immigrants. Under the rule, immigrants will only be considered as such if they are likely to become heavily dependent on government aid for their basic needs. Additionally, Texas recently filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s public charge rule.
