An 11-state coalition wants to intervene in a lawsuit to challenge the Biden government’s move to abandon a Trump-era policy restricting immigrants deemed dependent on welfare to receive green cards .
The ‘public indictment’ rule was introduced by the Trump administration in 2019 and expanded the definition of ‘public indictment’ as an immigrant who receives one or more designated public benefits for more than 12 months within a period of 36 months .
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The question of whether an immigrant is a ‘public indictment’ affects their chances of getting a green card – as well as other factors such as age, health and education.
Critics said the rule was discriminatory and would withdraw struggling immigrants to demand the help they needed, and launched a legal battle against the move that went up to the Supreme Court.
Biden’s administration recently announced that it no longer wants to defend the rule, abandoning its legal challenges.
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Continuing to defend the rule “is not in the public interest, but neither is an efficient use of limited government resources,” DHS said in a statement.
The Arizona-led states filed a motion this week to intervene in the lawsuit, which will allow the states to file a petition with the Supreme Court to review the case and leave the case in full. trial.
“It is unscrupulous to overwhelm our infrastructure and immigration staff if we are dealing with the health and economic devastation of the pandemic,” Arizona Attorney General Brnovich said in a statement. “While one’s standpoint regarding immigration reform, this reckless violation of federal law is just creating another national crisis and putting an extra strain on our country and hard-working taxpayers in Arizona.”
The states say they have an interest in upholding the rule, as implementation will reduce the demand for welfare and government assistance that directly affects them.
The benefits considered under the rule include Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Families in Need (TANF), as well as most forms of Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – commonly known as food stamps. The rule has expanded the number of benefits that can be considered from interim guidance issued in 1999.
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Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia join Arizona.
This comes days after Arizona and Montana announced a challenge to restrict the Biden administration to limit the priorities for immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) for arrest and deportation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.