Oral Arguments Set in Public Charge Case in Supreme Court

Official Supreme Court Building Photo

On February 23, 2022, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case involving the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule.  As described by Amy Howe for SCOTUSBlog,

“the justices agreed to decide whether a group of 13 states, led by Arizona, can defend a Trump administration rule that broadened the definition of `public charge,’ a term in immigration law for people who are ineligible for a green card if the government believes that they are likely to rely too heavily on government assistance. When two federal courts of appeals ruled in favor of groups challenging the rule, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to weigh in, and the justices agreed to do so. But the Biden administration and the challengers subsequently agreed to dismiss the case, prompting efforts by the states to intervene to defend the rule. The justices eventually granted review in Arizona v. City and County of San Francisco to decide whether states with an interest in the dispute should be allowed to intervene to defend a rule when the United States is no longer doing so.

. . . 

Arizona v. City and County of San Francisco (Feb. 23): Whether states should be permitted to intervene in litigation and defend a federal regulation when the federal government declines to do so.”

As Howe mentions, the Court will decide a procedural issue surrounding the intervention of the states in the public charge litigation, not whether the public charge rule is valid.

KJ