Massive legal battle erupts as 22 states fight Trump plan to block green cards for Medicaid users
President Donald Trump's administration faces legal action from a coalition of Democratic-led U.S. states, counties, and municipalities seeking to halt a newly introduced immigration measure. The rule, scheduled to take effect on Friday, allows federal authorities to reject green card applications from individuals who access public assistance programs, including Medicaid and food stamps.
Two separate lawsuits were submitted on Monday in Manhattan federal court. Both challenge the regulation, which stipulates that applicants seeking lawful permanent residency should not be classified as "public charges" primarily reliant on government aid.
The Department of Homeland Security unveiled the measure in July, reinstating a policy implemented during the president's first term in office. That earlier rule was later scrapped under Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, which established a significantly narrower definition of the public charge standard in 2022.
Responding to the litigation, a DHS spokesperson characterized the plaintiffs as "sanctuary states" and "left-wing leaders" who were "terrified they will lose federal funds because hundreds of thousands of illegals and noncitizens might remove themselves from American welfare programs."
Immigration officials have long possessed statutory authority to block individuals from obtaining residency if they determine they are likely to become "public charges" primarily reliant on state support.
Under the Biden-era regulations, immigration officials evaluated prior or ongoing reliance on cash assistance and Supplemental Security Income, while explicitly excluding non-cash benefits such as food stamps and low-income Medicaid coverage.
Those non-cash programs had been factors under the 2019 framework and may now be considered again under the new policy. The challenging states argue there are no clear boundaries on which forms of aid count against green card applicants, forcing families to speculate about whether receiving benefits will jeopardize their legal status.
"This rule preys on that fear and counts on families forfeiting the food assistance, healthcare coverage and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled," Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
Her state, alongside California and Illinois, is leading a lawsuit brought by 22 states and the District of Columbia. Six municipal and county governments, including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle, filed a companion suit.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated that the regulation "seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades."
The legal filings assert that the updated rule violates the federal Administrative Procedure Act because it exceeds DHS's statutory authority and departs from the public charge provision's established meaning set by Congress.
Previous iterations of the policy faced similar legal challenges during Trump's first administration, leading to adverse court rulings before the Biden administration ultimately abandoned its defense of the measure in court.
