Judge Blocks Trump Policy That Favors Wealthy Immigrants

A federal judge in New York issued a nationwide injunction on Friday blocking implementation of a new federal policy that would deny legal residency to immigrants who are likely to depend on public welfare.

Judge George B. Daniels of the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York said those potentially affected by the new regulation could suffer “irreparable harm” if it goes into effect. “The balance of equities and the interests of justice favor issuance of a preliminary injunction,” the judge wrote.

The “public charge” rule, which had been scheduled to take effect on Tuesday, set new standards for determining who might become a burden on the public purse and barred them from obtaining permanent residence in the country.

Judge Daniels’s order, which the Justice Department is likely to appeal, came a few days after President Trump also moved to deny immigrant visas to those who cannot prove that they will either have health insurance or can afford to pay for their own health care.

https://nyti.ms/328Sjwm

EL PASO, TX - Today, a Texas federal court ruled that President Trump’s proclamation of a national emergency along the Southern border violated federal law. The court declared that the president’s proclamation is invalid because it illegally sought to override Congress’s decision to not fund further border wall construction. The court invited the plaintiffs, El Paso County, Texas, and the Border Network for Human Right to propose terms for an injunction that would prevent the government from using funds to build border barriers that Congress specifically refused to authorize.

This lawsuit, which is unrelated to one brought in California challenging the president’s shuffling of Department of Defense funding streams to pay for his border wall, was brought on behalf of El Paso County, Texas, and the Border Network for Human Rights—an El Paso-based nonprofit dedicated to ensuring the participation of marginalized border communities and defending human and civil rights.