Seventh Circuit Revives Public Charge Rule

Suzanne Monyak for Law 360 reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on election day gave the Trump administration emergency reprieve from a district order ruling striking down the proposed public charge rule, allowing the administration to resume implementing the contested immigration rule for at least two more weeks.

The federal appeals court granted the administration’s request for a stay of U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman’s Monday ruling invalidating the public charge rule, which makes it harder for low-income immigrants to qualify for lawful permanent resident status since it took effect in February.

The order allows U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which had stopped applying the immigration rules for a one-day window in between Judge Feinerman’s ruling and the Seventh Circuit’s stay order, to now reinstate the policy until at least November 17, when the next brief is due before the appeals court.

“USCIS will immediately apply the rule to all applications and petitions postmarked or submitted electronically on or after Feb. 24, 2020, including pending applications and petitions,” a USCIS spokesperson said in a statement to Law360.

In its request for the stay, the Trump administration warned that Judge Feinerman’s ruling “threatens chaos in the administration of public charge inadmissibility determinations.”

The government also claimed that the lower court ruling is inconsistent with the U.S. Supreme Court‘s decision to stay earlier court rulings blocking the new rule and allow USCIS to apply the public charge rule while cases progressed through the courts.

KJ