New green card rule moves forward

A divided U.S. Supreme Court greenlighted enforcement of a Trump administration rule allowing officials to require immigrants who apply for permanent residency to prove they do not need public assistance. The justices on Monday voted 5-4 to overturn a lower court’s order and allow the “public charge rule” for green card applicants to go into effect while lawsuits against it work their way through the courts.

Will the rule change permanently? States, individuals, and other organizations have filed about a dozen lawsuits against the rule with varying results. Monday’s high court decision removed a nationwide injunction that a federal judge in New York issued to block the changes from taking effect. An order against enforcement of the rule in Illinois remains in place, but it only applies to that state. Until the lawsuits are resolved, most immigrants applying for a green card must show they won’t become public charges requiring benefits like Medicaid or food stamps.

Dig deeper: Read Charissa Koh’s report in Compassion about how the public charge rule affects immigrants.