An unelected federal Judge from New York has decided the Trump administration's new "public charge" rule won’t go into effect on Tuesday, Oct. 15th, as previously scheduled. The Hill is reporting that George Daniels, a U.S. District Court Judge in Manhattan, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the rule change from taking effect nationwide.
In August, the Trump administration announced a new “public charge” rule for immigrants seeking to enter the country or obtain a green card. Under the new rule, applicants who have received public-assistance benefits for a 12-month period within the last three years will be denied. Many immigrants take advantage of government-assistance programs like food stamps, housing vouchers, and Medicaid.
Despite the hysteria, public charge rules have been on the books for more than a century. Trump was elected with a clear mandate to curtail immigration, especially immigration disadvantageous to the U.S. taxpayer. But a series of judges have decided to take immigration policy into their own hands.
Similar injunctions are often overturned, but the administration has to battle these injunctions in the courts. In September, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that ended injunctions on the administration’s rule change regarding asylum seekers. Under that new rule, asylum seekers must claim asylum in one of the first countries they enter.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court sided with the administration that criminal immigrants can be detained in the United States anytime while awaiting deportation. And in 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the president’s travel ban, barring entry into the United States from seven specific countries.
