Supreme Court rebuffs GOP bid to revive Trump’s ‘public charge’ rule

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a bid by Republican state attorneys general to revive former President Trump’s “public charge” rule.

The rule, which the Biden administration formally rescinded last month, tightened restrictions on poorer immigrants seeking U.S. residency.

A group of red-state attorneys general, led by Texas’s Ken Paxton, had moved earlier this year to intervene in a case out of Illinois, where a district court judge had vacated the rule nationwide. That move came after the Biden administration had dropped its appeal of the ruling, effectively allowing the public charge rule to die.

In a brief order on Monday, the Supreme Court told the GOP attorneys general that they could seek to fight the ruling at the district court level.

“After the District Court considers any such motion, the States may seek review, if necessary, in the Court of Appeals, and in a renewed application in this Court,” the unsigned order reads.

Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

The Texas attorney general was joined in the motion by his counterparts from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia.

Public charge restrictions, which have been in place since 1882, affect immigrants who might seek government assistance.

In 2019, the Trump administration passed a rule updating existing Clinton-era regulations that would make it more difficult for immigrants to obtain legal status if they relied on public assistance by taking into account government aid beyond cash payments.

Updated at 10:14 a.m.