States, Cities Sue to Block New Green Card Rules

NEW YORK CITY—The city of New York and several other cities, counties, and states filed two lawsuits on Monday to stop the federal immigration officers from considering applicants’ use of public assistance when applying for a green card.

The cities’ and counties’ lawsuit cites the burden they would face if immigrants were disenrolled from public assistance programs and increased their use of emergency services.

“The new public charge rule seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades. New Yorkers will be afraid to see a doctor or ask for help they are legally entitled to,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at the press conference.

During its first term, the Trump administration authorized the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to deny green cards or entry to the United States to immigrants who had used welfare programs or aliens deemed likely to use them.

This is a developing story and will be updated.