(The Center Square) — New York Democrats are leading federal lawsuits challenging a move by President Donald Trump to make it harder for lawful immigrants to receive green cards or visas.
One lawsuit, filed Monday by New York Attorney Letitia James in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, asks a judge to invalidate a proposed rule change by the Trump administration that would give immigration agents more authority to deny green cards or visas to lawful immigrants on the basis of being a “public charge” — or someone who is likely to depend on government support.
“Hardworking families should not be forced to go without the support they need because they fear asking for assistance will get them deported," James, a Democrat, said in a statement. "This rule preys on that fear and counts on families forfeiting food assistance, health care coverage, and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled."
The attorneys' general lawsuit was filed alongside a separate legal challenge by a coalition of cities led by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who claimed the new public charge rule "seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades.
"New Yorkers will be afraid to see a doctor or ask for help they are legally entitled to," the democratic socialist said in remarks Monday. "That fear will not stop at the families that the federal government is targeting. Families who remain fully eligible for benefits will feel a chilling effect, and all New Yorkers will pay for it."
In a statement to The Center Square, the Department of Homeland Security panned the legal challenge as an "ideological contortion required by left-wing leaders to justify their defrauding of the American taxpayer at the hands of illegal criminals."
"Let’s get this straight, sanctuary states are terrified they will lose federal funds because hundreds of thousands of illegals and noncitizens might remove themselves from American welfare programs," a DHS spokesperson said. "We’re shaking in our boots over this supposedly terrible outcome."
"DHS has heard for months from the trusted journalists at CNN and others that illegal aliens weren’t using these very same welfare programs," the spokesperson said. "So, which is it?"
Under federal law, immigrants applying for permanent residency or legal status are already required to show that they are not likely to become a public charge.
In July, DHS announced that it would rescind a 2022 Biden-era regulation narrowing how immigration officers apply a long-standing "public charge" test — a screening tool used to determine whether applicants are likely to rely on government support. Those benefits can include food stamps, Medicaid and even housing assistance, according to USCIS officials.
The changes were to go into effect Friday.
The Trump administration said the rule change seeks to reaffirm the requirement of "self-reliance, protecting public resources and ending policies that encouraged dependency on the backs of hard-working American taxpayers."
"Under President Trump, USCIS is restoring the basic principle that immigrants must be able to support themselves," DHS said in a recent statement.
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