Supreme Court allows Trump’s ‘public charge’ immigration rule to take effect

“This decision will hurt immigrant communities,” Javier Valdes, the co-executive director of Make the Road New York, one of the groups challenging the regulations, said in a statement. “The Trump administration’s public charge rules attack our loved ones and neighbors by imposing a racist wealth test on the immigration system.”

District courts around the country had halted the rule from going into action, but the Trump administration was successful before two federal appeals courts, which would have allowed the policy to be enforced.

One nationwide injunction, issued by a district judge in New York and temporarily upheld by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month, still remained in effect.

The top court on Monday froze that injunction, pending a final decision from the 2nd Circuit. Following the 2nd Circuit’s final ruling, the case could eventually make its way back to the Supreme Court.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote a separate concurrence explaining his vote, said that the court was correct to halt the injunction, but that the “real problem” was the rise of nationwide injunctions.

“If a single successful challenge is enough to stay the challenged rule across the country, the government’s hope of implementing any new policy could face the long odds of a straight sweep” of all the district and appeals courts in the country, Gorsuch wrote.

Gorsuch’s concurrence was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.

The challenge to the rule was led by the state of New York and immigrant aid groups. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws, defended the rule.

During a phone call with reporters, Ken Cuccinelli, acting DHS deputy secretary, said he was happy with the court’s decision. The Supreme Court, he said, was fed up with “activist judges.”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/27/supreme-court-allows-trumps-public-charge-immigration-rule.html