More than Thirteen States File Lawsuit over Trump 'Public Charge' Rule
/Starting on August 14, 2019 thirteen states, co-led by Washington State Attorney General Robert Ferguson and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring filed a lawsuit over the DHS public charge final rule, arguing that the rule violates federal immigration statues and unlawfully expands the definition of “public charge.” (State of Washington, et. al., v. DHS, 8/14/19) The other attorneys general filing suit include those from Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. Soon after, three more states, New York, Vermont and Connecticut, joined the suit.
From the complaint:
“The Department’s new definition of “public charge” is contrary to its longstanding meaning in the Immigration and Nationality Act.”
“The Rule is arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion because—among other reasons—it reverses a decades-old, consistent policy without reasoned analysis, offers an explanation for the Rule that runs counter to the overwhelming weight of evidence before the Department, and disingenuously promotes as its purpose self-sufficiency in the immigrant population when, as abundantly shown by the administrative record, its effect is precisely the opposite.”
