The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to start enforcing its “public charge” rule change, tossing aside a lower court injunction and letting officials proceed with the discriminatory policy as litigation continues. “The 5-4 vote was divided along partisan lines, with the court’s four Democratic-appointees indicating that they would not have allowed the policy to be enforced,” CNBC reports.
The Stephen Miller-led rule change is an attack on immigrants and the legal immigration system, making it easier for the administration to deny green cards to immigrants who are legally accessing, or might access, public benefits such as food assistance, thereby discriminating against working families. A significant number of federal judges had issued rulings blocking the rule change, with one calling the policy “repugnant to the American Dream.”
Advocates swiftly condemned Monday’s ruling. “This SCOTUS decision means [that] now the full weight of Trump’s cruelty to immigrants will be felt,” tweeted Kerri Talbot, director of federal advocacy at Immigration Hub. “Sick families foregoing treatment. The American dream now only for the rich.”
Meanwhile, top Trump official Ken Cuccinelli celebrated the news, saying, according to CNBC, “The U.S. Supreme Court is fed up with the federal activist judges.” Cuccinelli remains in an acting capacity in the administration because he’s so radical that a confirmation vote on his appointment would probably fail the Republican-led senate.
The Supreme Court’s decision also raises worries about other cases now before the justices, such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. A decision on the status of that program, the elimination of which would separate hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from their families and communities, is expected by June. 2020 cannot be sat out.