This case is one of many that San Francisco has litigated with nationwide ramifications for immigrant families. SFALP students have been involved in the case since it was filed in 2019, shortly after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a new rule that would radically expand the reasons someone can be deemed a “public charge,” and thus denied entry into the U.S. or refused adjustment of their immigration status, including receiving a green card.
A December 2020 ruling by the Ninth Circuit blocked the rule from taking effect. The Trump Administration sought review of that decision in the U.S. Supreme Court, but that case was eventually dismissed after the Justice Department, under the Biden Administration, dropped the case and announced the administration would not implement Trump’s rule. Then, in 2021, a coalition of states, led by Arizona, sought to intervene in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an attempt to seek further review of the decision affirming the preliminary injunctions that stopped the rule from taking effect. The Ninth Circuit denied that motion, and the matter is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
SFALP students have worked on this critical case every step of the way, from writing research memos, to reviewing thousands of pages of legislative history, to helping “moot” the deputy city attorneys in advance of oral arguments.
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SFALP Students Win in Ninth Circuit, Blocking “Public Charge” Rule