Supreme Court Upholds Green Card Ban for Immigrants Receiving Public Assistance
The US Supreme Court has ruled that a Trump-era ban on granting green cards to legal immigrants receiving government benefits is constitutional.
The so-called “public charge” rule was announced last year and stirred up controversy.
Over a dozen states sued the Trump administration over the new restriction, which held up the rule from going into effect.
With the recent 5-4 high court ruling, however, the rule will be enforced in all 50 states except for Illinois, where there is a separate injunction against the immigration order.
Now, legal immigrants in the US receiving public benefits such as food stamps, Medicaid, and housing assistance will be restricted from receiving lawful permanent residency, also known as a green card.
Opponents argue that the rule will lead to a huge reduction of legal immigration for individuals in need who come from poorer countries.
When the change was announced in August of last year, then-acting Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Ken Cuccinelli deliberately misquoted the poem etched on the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.”
The original poem made no mention of “a public charge”:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
The Supreme Court voted on partisan lines, with the five conservative justices voting in favor of the Trump administration rule and the four liberal justices dissenting.
Read the full story here.
