Campaign Action
The attorneys general of 13 states have joined two California counties in suing the Trump administration over its discriminatory public charge rule change. "The Trump Administration's message is clear: if you're wealthy you're welcome, if you're poor, you're not," said Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. "This rule is un-American, anti-immigrant and unlawful."
Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Virginia “said in their lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, that the new rule ‘effects a radical overhaul of federal immigration law transforming a system that promotes economic mobility among immigrants into one that advantages immigrants with wealth.’”
It’s a wealth test that accomplishes two goals: It punishes working immigrant families, and it stomps on legal immigration. “Over time, people who are granted green cards—the major step toward winning citizenship—will become wealthier but their numbers will shrink,” The New York Times reported. “Immigrants from Europe and Canada are least likely to face problems under the new regulations.” Donald Trump did wonder aloud why we don’t have more immigrants from Norway, after all.
“This illegal rule is yet another attempt to vilify immigrants,” said San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera in a separate lawsuit launched jointly with Santa Clara County earlier this week. While the state of California has not yet launched any legal action, it is expected to soon. “This vile rule is the Trump Administration’s latest attack on families and lower income communities of color,” said state Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “It will harm our communities, schools, and workplaces by weaponizing essential healthcare, housing, and nutrition programs.”