New York City Leads Cities and Counties in Lawsuit Challenging Federal Government’s New Public Charge Rule
Coalition Filing in Southern District of New York Challenges Rule That Could Push Immigrant Families Away from Essential Health Care and Food Assistance
New York City Lawsuit Filed Alongside Separate Challenge Led by New York Attorney General
Editor’s note: Considering the unabashed xenophobia, bigotry, and sexism already exhibited by this Supreme Court for marginalized immigrants (in their recent decision to allow termination of TPS) and for individuals whose religion doesn’t match that of the justices (i.e. non-Christians) evidenced by their refusal to hear the religious rights case brought by Native American tribes defending their sacred ritual sites and ancestral lands from a copper mine and by the infamous Dobbs decision which made women’s available healthcare dependant on one’s zip code. Americans, particularly Christians, should know that only Christianity forbids abortion – unless of course one is a nun raped by a male in any position – then an abortion is forced as alleged by nuns in the #NunsToo movement telling their stories). This case may not be decided on the basis of the constitution or justice but rather by racism and xenophobia, but time will tell.
NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced that New York City, alongside the City of Chicago, the City and County of San Francisco, the County of Santa Clara, the City of Seattle, King County, Washington and the Public Rights Project, filed a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s new public charge rule.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, comes alongside a separate legal challenge led by New York State Attorney General Letitia James. New York is being joined by states, cities, counties and the Public Rights Project across the country in challenging the federal government’s attempt to deny green cards and visas to immigrants based on their use of means-tested, or income-based, local, state, and federal public benefits, without clear definitions or meaningful guardrails. The rule is the latest in the federal government’s relentless assault on immigrant families and their ability to live and work in the cities they call home.
“The new public charge rule seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades. New Yorkers will be afraid to see a doctor or ask for help they are legally entitled to. That fear will not stop at the families that the federal government is targeting. Families who remain fully eligible for benefits will feel a chilling effect, and all New Yorkers will pay for it,” said Mayor Mamdani. “New York City is proud to lead a coalition of cities and counties — Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Clara County, Seattle, King County and the Public Rights Project — standing firmly against this cruel and unlawful rule. Our immigrant communities are not a burden. They are the people who make New York City and [the] country great. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure they can continue to live here with dignity and without fear.”
In its lawsuit, the coalition argues that the new public charge rule sweeps aside more than a century of settled law, as well as decades of federal guidance establishing clear limits on how public charge determinations can be made. Instead, the new rule dramatically and unlawfully expands the government’s authority to consider an immigrant’s use of public benefits, allowing the federal government to consider virtually any means-tested or income-based public benefits while inviting officers to make decisions that are inconsistent and discriminatory.
“The federal government has again targeted our immigrant communities with an extremely harmful new federal public charge rule,” said New York City Corporation Counsel Steve Banks. “This new rule sweeps away more than a century of settled law to unlawfully broaden the definition of ‘public charge’ in a way that Congress never intended. No immigrant New Yorker should have to choose between their immigration status and benefits for which they are legally eligible.”
“The federal government’s changes to the public charge rule are creating fear and confusion among immigrant communities, which may keep families from accessing public benefits and services that help keep them healthy and safe,” said MOIA Commissioner Faiza N. Ali. “No one should have to choose between their family’s wellbeing and their future in this country. As New York City and municipalities across the country challenge these changes in court, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs will continue making sure immigrant New Yorkers know their rights, know where to turn to for help and can access trusted legal support.”
“Chicago will not stand by while the federal government forces immigrant families to choose between putting food on the table, taking their children to the doctor, or protecting their ability to remain in this country. This rule is not only cruel, it is unlawful, and it threatens the health and safety of our entire city,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “More than half a million Chicagoans were born outside the United States. They are our neighbors and an essential part of who we are. Chicago has fought these attacks before, and, alongside New York and cities across the country, we will fight them again. We will use every tool available to protect our immigrant communities and defend their right to live with dignity and without fear.”
“Getting help when you need it is not the same as being dependent on the government,” said Toby Merrill, Litigation Director at Public Rights Project. “But this administration is trying to blur that line to make it harder for immigrant families to access basic services. That will hurt families and entire communities, while leaving local governments to deal with the public health and financial consequences. DHS cannot rewrite the law to push essential services out of reach.”
“Seattle is joining this lawsuit to stand up for our values and the rule of law. Seattle is a place where people seeking opportunity can earn prosperity through hard work. Needing a little help along the way should never be used against someone in an immigration context,” said Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans. “I promised to stand up with urgency and courage for Seattle, and that’s exactly what this lawsuit does. Seattle joins New York City, King County and other jurisdictions to fight to uphold our values.”
“This latest unlawful immigration action by the Trump administration is a humanitarian disaster,” said King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion. “As the daughter of an immigrant, I never thought I would see a day where our federal government would target immigrants who are legally establishing their status – all while working, paying taxes, and contributing to the vibrancy of our community – simply for using any public program for any amount. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will fight this federal rule in court with every resource available.”
“This rule forces people to make an impossible choice between a future in our country or their health and well-being,” said San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu. “It is a blatant attempt to sow fear and confusion in our immigrant communities and coerce people into withdrawing from critical government services. We will all bear the cost of this misguided policy, which will shift millions of dollars in costs onto San Francisco. We will always welcome immigrants from all backgrounds and fight any attempts to institute a wealth test for citizenship.”
“The Trump Administration’s illegal public charge rule flies in the face of more than a hundred years of law and history and decades of federal guidance—and we will not tolerate the harms it imposes on our residents,” said Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti. “This is a deliberate attack against families, designed to bully them into dropping health insurance and delaying medical care, forgoing food assistance, and avoiding other critical services out of fear that accepting these essential but supplemental supports will jeopardize their immigration status. It is legally wrong and morally bankrupt to force families to make the impossible choice between protecting their health and protecting their future. We will continue to stand up in court for dignity and opportunity for all.”
“The Trump Administration wants to force millions of people nationwide – including potentially several thousand of King County residents – to choose between food, housing, healthcare, and other services on the one hand, and pathways to citizenships on the other but we won’t let them,” said Girmay Zahilay, King County Executive in Washington State. “We are proud to join this coalition of governments, including our partners at the City of Seattle and New York City, to fight back on behalf of our communities.”
This new rule is designed to create fear. It will have a massive chilling effect across immigrant communities, discouraging New Yorkers from accessing benefits and services for which they or their family members are legally eligible – including many people who are not subject to the rule at all.
The new Public Charge Rule is expected to go into effect on September 18. New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, can call the MOIA’s Immigration Legal Support Hotline at 1-800-354-0365 or 311 and say “Immigration Legal” to get connected to free, safe and confidential immigration legal assistance in their preferred language.
Attorney General James Leads Major Challenge to Trump Administration’s Attack on Immigrant Families
New Rule Gives Immigration Officers Sweeping Power to Deny Green Cards Over Any Use of Public Benefits Including School Meals, Health Insurance, or SNAP
States’ Lawsuit Filed Alongside Separate Lawsuit Led by New York City Challenging Rule’s Harm to Local Governments
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 21 other states and the District of Columbia in suing to halt a catastrophic new Trump administration policy that would allow immigration officials to punish immigrants for lawful use of public benefits. Filed alongside a separate lawsuit brought by a coalition of cities led by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Attorney General James’ lawsuit challenges a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “public charge” rule that would give individual immigration officers sweeping discretion to deny green cards based on nearly any use of public benefits. Attorney General James and the coalition are asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) to block this unlawful measure so that New Yorkers do not have to fear that seeking help today could jeopardize their – or their family members’ – immigration status in the future.
“Hardworking families should not be forced to go without the support they need because they fear asking for assistance will get them deported,” said Attorney General James. “This rule preys on that fear and counts on families forfeiting the food assistance, health care coverage, and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled. My office fought this exact policy once before and won, and we are leading the nation to ensure the Trump administration cannot inflict this harm on families again.”
“The new public charge rule seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades. New Yorkers will be afraid to see a doctor or ask for help they are legally entitled to. That fear will not stop at the families that the federal government is targeting. Families who remain fully eligible for benefits will feel a chilling effect, and all New Yorkers will pay for it,” said Mayor Mamdani. “New York City is proud to lead a coalition of cities and counties — Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Clara County, Seattle, and King County — standing firmly against this cruel and unlawful rule. Our immigrant communities are not a burden. 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.”
For over 140 years, the United States has defined a “public charge” as someone likely to become primarily dependent on the government for long-term subsistence. In 2022, the federal government issued a rule limiting public charge determinations to cash assistance for income maintenance or long-term institutionalization at government expense. The Trump administration’s new rule, taking effect September 18, would let immigration officers count nearly any public benefit, used for any length of time, against an applicant. The rule also includes benefits legally used by family members, even if the family member is a U.S. citizen.
Under the rule, a noncitizen parent’s green card application could be at risk because their U.S. citizen child used state-provided health insurance. Officers could count a child’s participation in a school’s free lunch program against their noncitizen parent’s application for citizenship. There is no clear limit on which benefits, or how much use, count against an applicant, leaving families to guess which forms of routine, lawful assistance might put their immigration status at risk.
Attorney General James and the coalition assert that the administration has acknowledged, and even celebrated, that the fear and confusion the new rule would create could cause immigrant families, including U.S. citizen children, to disenroll from benefits to which they are legally entitled. The federal government also acknowledged that a previous iteration of a similar rule caused benefit disenrollment rates as high as 35 percent among mixed-status families, and as high as 60 percent among refugees. The DHS itself predicts that this “chilling effect” will cost states $4.05 billion annually in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding and $1 billion annually in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding nationwide.
The coalition emphasizes that the disruption will not stop with the families who disenroll from public benefits. When people lose access to health coverage, they delay care and turn to emergency rooms instead, straining safety-net hospitals and community health centers, and raising costs for everyone. Schools risk losing automatic certification for free and reduced-price meal programs when SNAP and Medicaid enrollment drops below required thresholds, cutting off meals for eligible students regardless of income or immigration status. Federal Title I education funding, calculated using Medicaid and SNAP enrollment, is also likely to fall, and would be a devastating loss for schools. Reduced participation in SNAP can also harm local economies, draining money from the grocery stores and local businesses that depend on SNAP recipients’ business.
In the lawsuit, the attorneys general note that the states and local governments that administer these programs will bear direct costs, from new communications to staff training to information technology changes needed to manage the disruption. This is on top of the added strain of residents cycling on and off programs out of fear.
Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the new rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it is arbitrary and capricious, exceeds DHS’s statutory authority, and departs from the longstanding meaning of the public charge provision established by Congress. When the Trump administration introduced a similar rule in 2020, Attorney General James successfully led a coalition in suing to block the measure, a ruling that was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The coalition is asking a federal judge to declare the 2026 public charge rule unlawful and vacate it, protecting states and their residents from its unlawful harms.
Joining Attorney General James in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, and the governor of Pennsylvania.
Banner Image: Immigrant rights protest. Image Credit – Chad Stembridge
Staten Islander News Service Staff Writer
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