U.S. District Court Judge George Daniels issued a nationwide temporary injunction on the Trump administration’s policy of not giving green cards to immigrants who are accepting public benefits.
“It is extremely disappointing that yet another judicial ruling has blocked—on a nationwide basis—this Administration’s efforts to restore integrity to the immigration system, consistent with the plain meaning and clear intent of the law,” said White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
In another statement, the White House called the ruling “the latest inexplicable example of the Administration being ordered to comply with the flawed or lawless guidance of a previous administration instead of the actual laws passed by Congress.”
Daniels, a Clinton appointee, said in a 24-page ruling that the Trump administration likely exceeded its authority and failed to explain “why they are changing the public charge definition, why this new definition is needed now, or why the definition set forth in the rule — which has absolutely no support in the history of U.S. immigration law — is reasonable.”
“The rule is simply a new agency policy of exclusion in search of a justification,” he wrote.
The president is well within his rights as chief executive to alter rules using his discretionary powers. The judge is imagining a problem where none exists.
Think of Barack Obama’s rule on DACA, where he made 8 million illegals suddenly legal simply with the stroke of a pen. If that wasn’t an “exclusion” (excluding illegals from being prosecuted) “in search of a justification,” what is?
Under the Trump administration rule, immigrants who receive a public benefit such as Medicaid, food stamps or public housing voucher for more than 12 months in a three-year period would be considered a “public charge” and more likely to [be] denied green cards.
The Trump administration had released the final version of the rule in August, with officials portraying it as a way to promote independence and sufficiency among immigrants, while critics warned it may discourage some migrants from seeking necessary assistance.
Daniels said in his ruling Friday that the federal government did not provide “any reasonable explanation” for changing the definition of a public charge.
A “reasonable explanation” in the opinion of the judge. It’s actually quite reasonable given the crisis at the border.
Tens of thousands of legal immigrants will still be eligible for green cards. Most legal immigrants have jobs and don’t need to become a “public charge.” It’s just one more example of partisan judicial tyranny from the federal bench.
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