Litigation Challenges Rule That Could Push Immigrant Families Away from Essential Health Care and Food Assistance
Today, King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans, and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson joined New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and the City of Chicago, the City and County of San Francisco, and the County of Santa Clara in filing a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s new public charge rule.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, comes alongside a separate legal challenge led by New York Attorney General Letitia James. This litigation aims to stop the federal government’s attempt to deny green cards and visas to immigrants based on their use of means-tested, or income based, local, state, and federal public benefits, without clear definitions or meaningful guardrails. The rule is the latest in the federal government’s relentless assault on immigrant families and their ability to live and work in the cities they call home.
“This latest unlawful immigrant action by the Trump Administration is a humanitarian disaster,” said King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion. “As the daughter of an immigrant, I never thought we would see a day where our federal government would target immigrants who are legally establishing their status – all while working, paying taxes, and contributing to the vibrancy of our community – simply for using any public program for any amount. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will fight this federal rule in court with every resource available.”
“The Trump Administration wants to force millions of people nationwide – including potentially several thousand of King County residents – to choose between food, housing, healthcare, and other services on the one hand, and pathways to citizenships on the other but we won’t let them,” said King County Executive Girmay Zahilay. “We are proud to join this coalition of governments, including our partners at the City of Seattle and New York City, to fight back on behalf of our communities.”
“Seattle is joining this lawsuit to stand up for our values and the rule of law. Seattle is a place where people seeking opportunity can earn prosperity through hard work. Needing a little help along the way should never be used against someone in an immigration context,” said Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans. “I promised to stand up with urgency and courage for Seattle, and that’s exactly what this lawsuit does.”
“The Trump Administration continues to use discrimination and fear to discourage immigrant families from accessing services they’re legally entitled to. Seattle stands with immigrants every day. We welcome people who come here to build families, start businesses, and strengthen our culture and community,” said Mayor Katie Wilson. “Their contributions make Seattle better, and we will continue to fight for their right to live dignified lives and use the City’s resources to protect them.”
“From the South End to Pike Place Market to Ballard, immigrants built the Seattle that we love, and continue to drive the success of our city. Immigrants aren’t a burden: they’re our parents, neighbors, friends, partners, and coworkers. Immigrants are Seattleites, and in Seattle we have each other’s backs,” said Citywide Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck. “All Seattleites deserve to live in dignity. In joining this lawsuit, the City of Seattle is putting our Welcoming City status into action. I am standing alongside leaders from across the nation as we fight back against this cruel ruling and mass deportation agenda.”
“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. That fear will not stop at the families that the federal government is targeting. Families who remain fully eligible for benefits will feel a chilling effect, and all New Yorkers will pay for it,” said Mayor Mamdani. “New York City is proud to lead a coalition of cities and counties — Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Clara County, Seattle, and King County — standing firmly against this cruel and unlawful rule.
Our immigrant communities are not a burden. They are the people who make New York City and country great. We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure they can continue to live here with dignity and without fear.”
In its lawsuit, the coalition argues that the new public charge rule sweeps aside more than a century of settled law, as well as decades of federal guidance establishing clear limits on how public charge determinations can be made. Instead, the new rule dramatically and unlawfully expands the government’s authority to consider an immigrant’s use of public benefits, allowing the federal government to consider virtually any means-tested, or income based, public benefits while inviting officers to make decisions that are inconsistent and discriminatory.
“The federal government has again targeted our immigrant communities with an extremely harmful new public charge rule,” said New York City Corporation Counsel Steve Banks. “This new rule sweeps away more than a century of settled law to unlawfully broaden the definition of ‘public charge’ in a way that Congress never intended. No immigrant New Yorker should have to choose between their immigration status and benefits for which they are legally eligible.”
“The federal government’s changes to the public charge rule are creating fear and confusion among immigrant communities, which may keep families from accessing public benefits and services that help keep them healthy and safe,” said MOIA Commissioner Faiza N. Ali. “No one should have to choose between their family’s wellbeing and their future in this country. As New York City and municipalities across the country challenge these changes in court, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs will continue making sure immigrant New Yorkers know their rights, know where to turn to for help, and can access trusted legal support.”
“Chicago will not stand by while the federal government forces immigrant families to choose between putting food on the table, taking their children to the doctor, or protecting their ability to remain in this country. This rule is not only cruel, it is unlawful, and it threatens the health and safety of our entire city,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “More than half a million Chicagoans were born outside the United States. They are our neighbors and an essential part of who we are. Chicago has fought these attacks before, and, alongside New York and cities across the country, we will fight them again. We will use every tool available to protect our immigrant communities and defend their right to live with dignity and without fear.”
“This rule forces people to make an impossible choice between a future in our country or their health and well-being,” said San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu. “It is a blatant attempt to sow fear and confusion in our immigrant communities and coerce people into withdrawing from critical government services. We will all bear the cost of this misguided policy, which will shift millions of dollars in costs onto San Francisco. We will always welcome immigrants from all backgrounds and fight any attempts to institute a wealth test for citizenship.”
“The Trump Administration’s illegal public charge rule flies in the face of more than a hundred years of law and history and decades of federal guidance—and we will not tolerate the harms it imposes on our residents,” said Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti. “This is a deliberate attack against families, designed to bully them into dropping health insurance and delaying medical care, forgoing food assistance, and avoiding other critical services out of fear that accepting these essential but supplemental supports will jeopardize their immigration status. It is legally wrong and morally bankrupt to force families to make the impossible choice between protecting their health and protecting their future. We will continue to stand up in court for dignity and opportunity for all.”
This rule is designed to create fear. It will have a massive chilling effect across immigrant communities, discouraging individuals from accessing benefits and services for which they or their family members are legally eligible – including many people who are not subject to the rule at all. The new Public Charge Rule is expected to go into effect on September 18.