Supreme Court lifts pause on public charge rule as lawsuits continue

The U.S. Supreme Court today voted 5-4 to lift a nationwide injunction imposed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York preventing the Department of Homeland Security’s public charge final rule from taking effect while legal challenges to the rule proceed. The Supreme Court decision does not address the merits of whether the rule, which would limit the ability of legal immigrants to adjust or extend their immigration status or gain full citizenship based on their receipt of public benefits, is valid, and the lawsuits against the rule continue. The rule was supposed to go into effect in October 2019, but it has not been implemented. 

The AHA and five other national hospital groups recently filed a friend-of-the court brief in the 9th Circuit in support of California’s challenge to the rule. The brief notes, when immigrants perceive enrollment in public programs to place their status at risk, they are less likely to enroll their children in those programs, even if their children are U.S. citizens not subject to a public-charge determination. The brief adds that U.S. citizens, including 6.7 million citizen children, are projected to be "hardest hit" by the rule. 

"These are not abstract numbers, but real people who will be forced to forego public benefits to which they are legally entitled. And they will endure worse health outcomes, loss of prescription medication, increased rates of poverty and housing instability, and impaired development of their children. Although the Public Charge Rule will have the greatest impact on immigrant communities, the hospitals that serve them will also be affected. Coverage losses will lead to sicker immigrant populations and increased emergency-room visits, resulting in more unnecessary uncompensated care for hospitals and limiting hospital resources for expanding access to health care and other community services. Congress could not have intended these results.”