The Supreme Court grappled Wednesday with the unusual legal maneuvers the Biden administration used to wipe out a Trump-era immigration rule and whether to let some Republican-led states continue the court fight to save it.
At the heart of the case is the Trump administration’s expansion of the long-standing “public charge” rule, which allowed the Department of Homeland Security to deny green cards to immigrants deemed likely to use more non-cash public benefits.
In 2019, the Trump administration rule sought to expand the types of government benefits whose use could disqualify immigrants from obtaining green cards to include Medicaid, public housing assistance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. Several federal judges ruled against the policy, but the Supreme Court gave the administration reprieve from those court rulings, allowing the rule to take effect.
