The Legal Aid Society is suing the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop an unlawful new rule that seeks to deny lawful permanent resident (LPR) status to certain aspiring immigrants (those applying for status through a family member) if they or their dependent children receive a broad range of supplemental public benefits.

The new policy gives DHS officers broad discretion to deny immigrants LPR status and is yet another thinly veiled attempt to disguise the administration’s racial hostility toward non-citizens and their children. In 2019, USCIS and DHS made a similar attempt to expand their ability to deny LPR status on public charge grounds, which multiple courts struck down.

“Tens of thousands of households across the United States currently receive assistance from the government to supplement their wages in this challenging economy,” said Susan Welber, Supervising Attorney at Legal Aid. “USCIS and DHS’s new rule to deny LPR status to aspiring immigrants solely on the grounds that they or their U.S. citizen children receive any form of non-cash government assistance is both wrong on the law and a blatant attempt to bar low-income immigrants, particularly immigrants of color, from becoming permanent residents.”

“This illegal rule, like the 2019 rule, must be vacated by the court to ensure that all aspiring immigrants remain free to live in the United States and pursue economic success for themselves and future generations without sacrificing the health and well-being of themselves, their families, or their communities,” she continued.

Democracy Forward and the Center for Constitutional Rights are co-counsel on this litigation, which was filed on behalf of of Make the Road New York, the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), the Association to Benefit Children (ABC), and African Communities Together (ACT).