October 11, 2019
Los Angeles, CA – CIPC applauds the decision by a New York federal court to issue a nationwide injunction against the Trump Administration’s widely criticized and dangerous public charge rule. The expanded public charge rule seeks to deny immigrants permanent residency for using key safety net programs, including nutrition, health, and housing programs. Citing the very real economic and health harms posed by expansion of the public charge rule, today’s decision imposes and delays implementation of the rule which was to go into effect on October 15th.
Public opposition to the rule has been swift and powerful, and now a federal court agrees. The draft rule garnered 266,000 comments in opposition from across the country and several states and advocates filed for a preliminary injunction after the final language was published.
In response to today’s decision, Almas Sayeed, Deputy Director and Counsel at the California Immigrant Policy Center, issued the following statement:
“We applaud and celebrate today’s court decision in New York to impose an injunction against this shameful, dangerous rule to restructure our immigration system in favor of the privileged and wealthy. If the rule went into effect, the impact would be devastating. In California alone, our research estimated that 15-35% of eligible families will disenroll from programs out of fear of the immigration consequences. The final rule would directly and indirectly harm immigrant families, and the state could lose up to $510 million dollars due to disenrollment from federal health insurance programs alone. Today the court reaffirmed that no person should have to forgo using key nutrition, health, or housing programs out of fear of jeopardizing their immigration status. We thank all who have and continue to stand up against the Administration’s xenophobic, classist agenda, and we will continue to use every tool available to stand firmly in opposition. While we wait for a permanent injunction, we encourage all families to access the services they need to thrive.”
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