NEW YORK
New York City, joined by Chicago, Seattle and other local governments, is suing the Trump administration over a rule that expands grounds to deny visas and green cards to immigrants who receive public benefits. Mayor Zohran Mamdani filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court Monday, three days before the rule takes effect.
The policy allows federal officials to consider a broader range of income-based public assistance—Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers—when deciding visa and green card applications. The federal government published the rule in July.
The cities argue the rule unlawfully rewrites more than 140 years of immigration law. Historically, "public charge" has meant someone primarily dependent on cash assistance from the government for basic needs. The lawsuit contends the term has never encompassed temporary, supplemental, or non-cash benefits, except for long-term institutionalization.
Congress has repeatedly rejected attempts to expand the definition beyond that narrow scope, the filing states.
"The new public charge rule seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades," Mamdani said. "New Yorkers will be afraid to see a doctor or ask for help they are legally entitled to."
The cities are asking the court to block the rule before it takes effect Friday. Mamdani said the policy treats immigrants as a burden rather than a foundation of the city. "Our immigrant communities are the people who make New York City and country great," he said.
The administration argues the rule simply enforces an existing legal requirement that immigrants demonstrate they can support themselves. Federal law already mandates that those seeking permanent residency show they are unlikely to become a public charge. The new rule tightens how officials assess that likelihood.
Mamdani's office is directing residents to a legal support hotline offering confidential assistance as the city pursues its challenge.
