New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Monday that his city will sue the Trump administration over a new rule set to take effect Friday, which would allow immigration officials to consider whether green-card applicants are likely to become dependent on public benefits.
The policy expands consideration to a wider range of non-cash benefits, including Medicaid, SNAP food assistance, housing aid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The move reflects the Trump administration’s broader commitment to ensuring that those coming to the country are likely to be net contributors, rather than long-term dependents on taxpayer-funded welfare in an era of large-scale immigration and an expansive social safety net.
The New York City mayor, however, said that the new rule constituted an “undisguised effort to strip New Yorkers of the services they rely on, the public benefits they are entitled to.”
Mamdani announces that he's suing the Trump admin over the new rule that allows them to deny green cards to foreigners who are likely to rely on welfare.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 14, 2026
Says that "four million people will unenroll from their healthcare" and that "people will die" if more green cards aren't… pic.twitter.com/EJQ4k0zmyB
"Here in New York City, however, cruelty is not how we seek to govern. Immigrants are New Yorkers. And like I said once before, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us. That is why today we are confronting this injustice with the solidarity and action that it demands," Mamdani said during a press conference announcing the suit. "New York City is leading a coalition of cities and counties, including Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Santa Clara County, and King County, to sue the federal government for the gross illegality of their new public charge rule and the irreparable damage that it will cause. We are filing our lawsuit alongside a separate challenge led by Attorney General James. I'm grateful for her partnership in this fight and for everything she has done to stand steadfast alongside New Yorkers."
During the same speech, Mamdani lamented that people could be pushed off government entitlement programs, arguing that rather than saving money, as the policy intends, it would only place greater strain on the system as a whole.
"Families, including those with children, who are U.S. citizens, have already begun to forego essential services like SNAP, Medicaid, and affordable housing out of the fear that if they use these programs, immigration officers could use it as justification to deny them a future in our country," he said.
The toll of this new rule cannot be overstated. It is estimated that up to 4 million people from across the country could unenroll from their health care alone, including 1.8 million children. None of this is abstract. People could die. As a result of these changes, the rate of premature mortality in immigrant communities in New York City could increase by up to 10.6% within just the next five years. The data is clear. Denying people services does not erase their need. It compounds it, generating a greater cost to our system that will be placed on the backs of working people for years to come. Nothing about this rule will reduce waste or keep Americans safer or improve New Yorkers' lives. It is simply a vehicle for confusion and a vehicle for cruelty.
Of course, trying to force people to stand on their own two feet is an act of "cruelty" in the eyes of a socialist.
This comes as the Trump administration has sought to address the strains created by both a vast welfare state and large-scale immigration. America has long attracted people willing to risk everything for the chance to build a better life. But when legal status and access to public benefits become intertwined, the country does not attract only the brave, entrepreneurial risk-takers pursuing the American dream. It also attracts those looking for an easier life subsidized by the U.S. government and the American taxpayer.
That is not only unfair to the people funding the system; it runs against the kind of nation America should want to build. Immigration should bring in people prepared to contribute, work, build and take part in the responsibilities of citizenship, not people who seek a generous welfare state.
Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.
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