'Public charge' requirement for new immigrants hits a roadblock

Healthcare workers protest the public charge rule for immigrants.

A federal judge in New York issued two strongly worded rulings on Wednesday that put a temporary freeze on theTrump administration restrictive immigration policies.

The measures, which are now on hold, had broadened the grounds under which immigrants could be considered "public charges," a label that can harm the chances of obtaining either a green card or entry to the United States.

In the two blistering decisions, Judge George Daniels of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York says the national health emergency from the coronavirus pandemic provides grounds for granting the preliminary injunctions.

In a decision that applies nationwide, Judge George Daniels of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York,  blocked the implementation of a rule issued last year by the Department of Homeland Security. The Trump administration's rule widened the definition of a "public charge" — historically, a person entirely dependent on public aid for survival — that can be used for denying a change in immigration status.

Under the DHS' revised definition, any non-U.S. citizen or legal resident who receives government assistance such as food stamps, public housing vouchers, Medicaid or welfare payments for 12 months or more over a three-year period can be considered a public charge.

Daniels writes in his blistering decision that the coronavirus pandemic has rendered obsolete a Jan. 27 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.that blocked an Oct. 2019 injunction issued by Daniels against the broadened public charge rule, but it also allowed for further litigation against the measure in the lower court.

"Much has significantly changed since Jan. 27," Daniels wrote in his 31-page ruling. The Health and Human Services secretary declared a national public health emergency four days after the decision by SCOTUS.

"What were previously theoretical harms have proven to be true," Daniels added. "We no longer need to imagine the worst-case scenario; we are experiencing its dramatic effects in very real time."

Although DHS began implementing its public charge rule in February, because of the coronavirus, DHS suspended the rule in the interest of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

"Doctors and other medical personnel, state and local officials, and staff at non-profit organizations have all witnessed immigrants refusing to enroll in Medicaid or other publicly funded health coverage, or forgoing testing or treatment for COVID-19, out of fear that accepting such insurance or care will increase their risk of being labeled a "public charge," continued Daniels.

"Even if immigrants act in part on mistaken belief,' the judge wrote, "the Supreme Court has recognized injury where the plaintiff's harms are based on the 'predictable effect of Government action on the decisions of third parties,' even if such decisions are 'motivated by unfounded fears.'"

In a separate ruling, Daniels blocks another Trump rule that required would-be immigrants to have health insurance.

"The Proclamation directs immigrants to purchase limited or temporary insurance plans that technically satisfy the Proclamation's requirements but do not actually provide comprehensive coverage," Daniels wrote in the 52-page ruling. "As a result, immigrants will be left underinsured and at greater risk of incurring uncompensated costs that will ultimately fall on and burden local and state governments."

An appeal will most likely occur with hopes that the cases go the U.S. Supreme Court where conservative justices have the majority.

Trump has made his anti-immigration policies a major part of his first term in office and a key element of his 2020 campaign against Democratic challenger Joe Biden because they stir up nativists and white supremacists, large parts of his base.