The Legal Aid Society, on behalf of Make the Road NY, African Services Committee, Asian American Federation, Catholic Charities Community Services, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and individual plaintiffs, jointly challenged changes to the U.S. Department of State’s “public charge” rules and President Trump’s Healthcare Proclamation requiring visa applicants to show proof of private health insurance. The rulemaking created a wealth test for non-citizens seeking lawful permanent residence status or entry into the U.S. by unlawfully redefining the term “public charge,” transforming it from a term that Congress intended to apply to only a narrow category of people who are institutionalized or otherwise primarily or wholly dependent upon public cash assistance, to instead include any immigrant deemed likely to receive even small amounts of a wide range of cash or non-cash benefits–at any point in the future–including food assistance, health care, and housing assistance.

In July 2020, a federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction barring implementation of all three rules. In September 2020, the Government filed an interlocutory appeal to the Second Circuit, which was stayed in abeyance in February 2021 while the new Biden Administration reevaluated the rule. On May 14, 2021, President Biden rescinded the Healthcare Proclamation and announced administrative actions to reverse the other two rules.