New York City is leading a coalition challenging a Trump administration policy that would allow the federal government to deny visas and green cards to immigrants who rely on public assistance, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, claims the new rule unlawfully expands the government’s ability to consider immigrants’ use of public benefits like Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers when deciding whether to approve certain applications.
The federal government published the new “public charge” rule in July, with it set to take effect on Friday.
Under the policy, federal officials can consider a broader range of income-based public benefits when determining whether certain visa and green card applicants are likely to become a “public charge.”
“For over 140 years, the term ‘public charge’ has been understood to mean a person who is primarily dependent on the federal government for cash-based, governmental assistance, i.e., for subsistence,” the lawsuit says. “The term has never been understood to include individuals who receive temporary, supplemental, or non-cash benefits (excluding long-term institutionalization at government expense).”
“Since the 19th century, federal immigration statutes have incorporated this established and narrow common law meaning of ‘public charge,’” the lawsuit adds. “And over subsequent decades, Congress has repeatedly rejected numerous attempts to expand public charge beyond this meaning.”
In a statement, Mamdani said the rule could discourage immigrant New Yorkers from using programs for which they are legally eligible.
“The new public charge rule seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades,” he said. “New Yorkers will be afraid to see a doctor or ask for help they are legally entitled to.”
Mamdani said the city is joining with other local governments, including the cities of Chicago and Seattle, to challenge the rule in court.
“Our immigrant communities are not a burden,” he said. “They are the people who make New York City and country great. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure they can continue to live here with dignity and without fear.”
New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs is advising New Yorkers to call its legal support hotline to access safe and confidential legal assistance as the city challenges the rule in court.
The federal government previously said the policy is intended to reinforce a requirement that “immigrants must be able to support themselves.”
Under federal law, immigrants looking to obtain permanent residency or legal status are already required to show that they are not likely to become a public charge.