Public Charge: Five Things to Know Now

Publication date: 
August 2020
National Immigration Law Center (NILC) logo

By Gabrielle Lessard
AUGUST 31, 2020

Recent decisions by federal courts have significantly altered the “public charge” landscape, creating uncertainty about the extent to which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) public charge regulations are in effect, but certain issues and facts remain clear.

Legal challenges to the regulations continue in multiple courts. While those cases proceed, plaintiffs in New York asked a federal court to put the regulations on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. A U.S. district court there granted that request on July 29, 2020. (The district court also issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. State Department’s public charge regulations. That injunction remains in effect nationwide and is not tied to the pandemic.). ....

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