New York, Connecticut and Vermont sue to block Trump's rule of public office

Three states have come together to try to block the Trump administration's efforts to limit the pathways to citizenship for some legal immigrants.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday morning that Connecticut, Vermont and New York have filed a lawsuit against federal agencies that would apply and enforce a new rule that would expand the definition of "public charge" to from the 15th of October.

Under the new rule, public servants may consider immigrants seeking to change their legal immigration status and who are enrolled in publicly funded programs, such as food vouchers and social services. 39, public health insurance, as a "public office", which means that they will likely use public benefits in the future.

Once labeled "public accusation", immigrants would be denied green cards, visas and other forms of legal immigration.

"Simply, according to this rule, more children will be hungry, more families will be deprived of medical care and more people will live in the shadows and on the streets." We can not and we will not let this will happen, "said James.

Many families eligible for public benefits have abandoned some government programs or refrained from seeking help because a draft "public office" rule had been released last year.

"Generations of citizens have landed on the inviting coasts of Ellis Island with nothing more than a dream in their pockets," James said in a statement. "The thinly veiled efforts of the Trump administration to allow those who meet narrow ethnic, racial and economic criteria to enter our country are a flagrant violation of our laws and values."

In this lawsuit, James and Attorneys General William Tong of Connecticut and Thomas J. Donovan of Vermont said that the administration had arbitrarily extended the ban on "public charges" in a manner that violated the equal protection rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

The plaintiffs argue that the rule is also discriminatory against persons with disabilities and low incomes, as well as immigrants of color.

The new rule is Trump 's latest effort to "reduce the population of permanent color residents in the United States," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit lists nine cases in which the Trump administration sought to "isolate and exclude Latin American immigrants and other immigrants of color", including the cancellation of the DACA, which protects about 700,000 immigrant youths who work or study deportation, a travel ban to several majorities. – Muslim countries and the end of temporary protections of immigration for the inhabitants of Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti and El Salvador.

The Department of Homeland Security had previously defined the term "public office" as a person dependent on cash assistance or long-term residential care funded by the government, but the new rule extends the definition to "public office". other benefits such as food coupons, non-emergency Medicaid, some prescription drugs subsidies and housing vouchers.

The Trump administration claims that expanding the meaning of "public office" helps "protect US taxpayers" and ensures "that non-citizens of this country are self-reliant and do not burden public resources."

But according to the new US economy, a bipartisan research and advocacy organization, immigrants pay $ 405.4 billion in taxes each year, helping to fund social services and programs such as Medicare and Social Security.

A recent study by the Urban Institute found that more than 20% of the immigrants surveyed felt that they were not applying for the federal assistance programs they were eligible for, lest it impede their green card application status. .

The lawsuit comes a few days after the state of California and several rights groups filed separate lawsuits Friday to fight the rule.

More than 60 lawsuits have been filed to block the application of the public indictment rule, including in New Mexico, Colorado, Rhode Island, Maine, Maryland, and Massachusetts, said James at a press conference Tuesday morning.

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