California and other Democratic-led states and localities filed a pair of lawsuits Monday challenging new Trump administration rules giving immigration officials more power to deny green cards to applicants whose families have relied on public assistance programs in the past.<\/p>\n
The challenge mirrors another by a similar coalition<\/a> that successfully halted such changes<\/a> during the first Trump administration.<\/p>\n California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, whose office is helping lead the states\u2019 challenge, said the rule changes seek to \u201crewrite more than 100 years of law\u201d by making even brief use of public benefits in years past grounds for the federal government to deny a person\u2019s application for legal permanent residency in the future \u2014 which he said was clearly illegal and would push tremendous costs onto states, counties and cities.<\/p>\n \u201cNo family should have to choose between accessing healthcare and nutrition assistance today \u2014 or protecting their pathway to a green card tomorrow,\u201d Bonta said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to court on behalf of the millions of immigrants who call this state home \u2014 and we will fight to get this unlawful rule undone.\u201d<\/p>\n San Francisco City Atty. David Chiu, whose office is helping lead a separate challenge from Democratic-led cities and counties, said in a statement that the new Trump administration policies are \u201ca blatant attempt to sow fear and confusion in our immigrant communities and coerce people into withdrawing from critical government services\u201d \u2014 which he also said would shift millions in costs to local governments.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which promulgated the new rules, said the lawsuits were proof that immigrants are unlawfully tapping into benefits programs intended for U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n \u201cSanctuary states are terrified they will lose federal funds because hundreds of thousands of illegals and noncitizens might remove themselves from American welfare programs,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cThis is the ideological contortion required by left-wing leaders to justify their defrauding of the American taxpayer at the hands of illegal criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n Lauren Bis, a White House spokesperson, said Democrats \u201care once again fighting to give benefits to illegal aliens at the expense of American taxpayers,\u201d while Trump and his administration are putting American citizens first.<\/p>\n \u201cImmigrants must be able to support themselves and not depend on hard-working American taxpayers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n President Trump won office on a promise to rein in illegal immigration. Since taking office, his administration has launched a mass crackdown that has targeted both undocumented and documented immigrants. It has done so in part by targeting federal and state programs that offer immigrant assistance \u2014 which Trump has derided as diverting resources away from U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n