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LAS Welcomes President Biden’s Executive Order on “Public Charge” Rules

Attorneys at the Legal Aid Society and immigrant rights advocates across the nation are calling on the Biden administration to undertake a swift review of the public charge rules put in place by President Trump.

An executive order signed by President Biden on Tuesday authorized such a review and calls for a “top-to-bottom” evaluation of the Trump administration’s regulations and policies that curbed legal migration.

Legal Aid Society staff attorney Susan Welber, representing Make the Road NY, an advocacy group challenging the public charge rule, told Law360 on Tuesday that she hopes the order will prompt the U.S. Department of Justice to drop its defenses.

“We urge the administration to swiftly undertake the review of the Trump public charge rules called for by today’s executive order,” Welber said in a statement. “The economic and health crises caused by COVID-19 mean that the elimination of the Trump public charge rules — which deter the use of essential government benefits like health care and food assistance — are a matter of life and death for many immigrants.”