SCOTUS Rejects Texas-Led Attempt to Protect Trump-Era Immigration Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 9 rejected a Texas-led challenge to reinstate a Trump-era policy that blocked certain immigrants from gaining permanent residency status if they’re deemed likely to qualify for government benefits.
The high court didn’t say why it rejected the challenge, listing the case under its list of “certiorari denied” CasesPDF).
An appeal from 14 Republican-led state attorneys general, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, sought to rescind a lower court ruling against their request to mount a legal defense of Trump’s “public charge” rule after President Joe Biden The measure was later repealed and the Trump administration stopped defending it. The Trump administration implemented the policy in February 2020. The Biden administration ended it in March 2021.
Texas is not represented by the attorneys general. They are from Alabama (Arizona), Arkansas, Indiana and Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana Mississippi, Montana Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia.
A federal judge in Illinois invalidated the rule last year. Later, the judge rejected the Republican request to intervene. He stated that the request from the state officials was too late and that the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2022 agreed with the lower court’s ruling.
The case didn’t focus on whether the rule was constitutional but on whether the Biden administration followed the proper rule-making procedures when it revoked it. This policy made it difficult to obtain permanent residence for immigrants. “green card,” If they have used public benefits, such as Medicaid, housing coupons, or food stamps.
Two months after Biden was elected, the Department of Homeland Security annulled the rule in March 2021. Republicans argued that the administration abandoned the usual public comment period that often precedes the rescinding of major regulations.
The White House, meanwhile, abandoned the Department of Justice’s legal defense of the Trump-era program after it was challenged in court.
Another case dismissed
The Supreme Court rejected a second attempt to revive Trump’s era last year “public charge” rule. Many Republican states sought to intervene in an appeal that challenged the rule.
In June 2022, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a concurrence joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch to dismiss that challenge.
“It has become clear that this mare’s nest could stand in the way of our reaching the question presented on which we granted certiorari, or at the very least, complicate our resolution of that question,” Roberts wrote that time.
“When this and other suits challenging the Rule were first brought in 2019, the Government defended it. And when multiple lower courts, including the District Court here, found the Rule unlawful, the Government appealed those decisions. After a change in administrations, though, the Government reversed course and opted to voluntarily dismiss those appeals, leaving in place the relief already entered.”
But Roberts said last year’s decision “should not be taken as reflective of a view on any of the foregoing issues, or on the appropriate resolution of other litigation, pending or future” In connection with the immigration rule.
The White House in September 2022 adopted a narrower rule under which immigrants would be deemed public charges only when they’re likely to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence, mirroring a 1999 regulation that had been in place for two decades. Texas Filled a separate federal lawsuit on Jan. 5 challenging Biden’s rule.
“I’ve sued [President Joe] Biden over a dozen times to secure our southern border,” Paxton tweeted about his latest lawsuit against Obama’s administration. “Now, just as 2023 is starting, I’m bringing another lawsuit—the first of its kind in the nation on Biden’s disastrous new public-charge rule. I’ll keep suing [and] winning until he [and] his lawless Dems follow the law.”
After the new rule was enacted, the Republican attorney general claimed that Biden promotes an open border agenda. Biden has received constant criticism from Republicans about his immigration policies and security along the U.S.–Mexico border.
Biden visited El Paso (Texas) on Jan. 8. He met with officials from law enforcement and watched demonstrations. The president also visited the El Paso Migrant Services Center, which houses and supports people who recently crossed into the United States illegally.
After his arrival in Texas, the president met Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Greg Abbott, a Republican, gave the president a paper. Abbott later stated that it contained several solutions to immigration issues.
This report was contributed by Reuters
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a Senior Reporter for The Epoch Times. He is based out of New York. He reports on breaking news.
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