New York District Court Blocks Implementation of Public Charge Rule

On October 11, 2019, the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York ordered a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation, by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of President Donald Trump’s revised public charge rule. The court’s order also enjoins DHS from implementing a series of new and updated immigration forms introduced in furtherance of the rule, which was scheduled to go into effect on October 15, 2019.

President Trump’s public charge rule would have required the government to take an expansive look into the background and financial status of certain foreign nationals to determine their likelihood of becoming a public charge.

The injunction has no effect on a similar public charge rule proposed by the U.S. Department of State that is scheduled to take effect, on an interim basis, on October 15, 2019.

Ogletree Deakins’ Immigration Practice Group will continue to monitor the ongoing developments with respect to the public charge rule and will post updates on the Immigration blog as additional information becomes available.