San Francisco, Santa Clara counties sue Trump Administration over public charge policy

Aug. 13--SAN JOSE -- The joint lawsuit was filed Tuesday morning, just a day after the Trump Administration unveiled their final version of the rule, which will go into effect Oct. 15. San Francisco and Santa Clara County previously sued the administration over threats to deny federal funding to sanctuary cities.

"The Trump Administration's new rule is an unlawful, foolish attack on immigrant communities," said Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams in a statement. "It will hurt all members of our communities by reducing access to critical health and safety-net services that create healthier communities for all of our residents."

Federal law already requires people seeking permanent residency or legal status to prove they will not be a burden to the U.S., or a "public charge." The new rule broadens the factors that could disqualify them to include public assistance programs like Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers, and consideration of factors like education, income and health.

The Administration has said the new rule would ensure people who come to the United States don't become a burden and promote self-sufficiency.

But the two counties, along with a number of immigrant advocacy groups, say the rule would force people to withdraw from benefits out of fear of the consequences to their immigration status.

In a statement Tuesday, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera called the rule "rubbish" and said it would shift health care costs to local government and push more people into homelessness.

"This illegal rule is yet another attempt to vilify immigrants," said Herrera. "This rule forces people to make an impossible choice: their health or a better future for their family. We will all bear the cost of this misguided policy, which will shift millions of dollars in health care costs onto the taxpayers of San Francisco and Santa Clara counties."

The counties' lawsuit contends that the new rule drastically and illegally expands the definition of who is considered a "public charge" to include even minimal use of public benefits, without sufficient justification by the administration for such a dramatic shift in longstanding policy.

"This abrupt shift in policy undermines the Counties' critical public health and safety net systems, is arbitrary and capricious, flouts federal law, and seeks to usurp Congress' authority by administratively repealing its longstanding family-based immigration system," the lawsuit states.

The National Immigration Law Center announced Monday its intent to file a lawsuit, calling the policy change an attempt to "redefine our legal immigration system in order to disenfranchise communities of color and favor the wealthy."

In their statement, San Francisco pointed to reduced access to health care increasing public health threats like communicable diseases; an increase in local health care costs by "millions of dollars a year" because people will forgo preventative care and wind up in the emergency room; and the loss of food stamp dollars to local grocery stores and businesses.

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