Supreme Court Allows Implementation of New Public Charge Rule; MAZON Fights Back
MAZON Outraged By U.S. Supreme Court Decision to Allow Implementation of Public Charge Rule
LOS ANGELES (January 28, 2020)—MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger expressed outrage at the U.S. Supreme Court’s sharply divided decision to lift a nationwide injunction blocking implementation of the “Public Charge Rule” while its legal fate remains under consideration by lower federal courts.
MAZON President & CEO Abby Leibman said, “Such an action by the Court undermines precisely why courts are asked to issue such injunctions in the first place: without them, legally questionable policies become law subjecting vulnerable Americans to rules and decisions that may ultimately prove to be unlawful. At best, this creates confusion and fear; at worst, it will result in America turning its back on immigrants who heretofore would have been welcome in our country.”
The Trump Administration’s public charge rule seeks to deny lawful permanent residency status to immigrants who have utilized public benefits, including food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Leibman said, “It is unconscionable that immigrants will now be presumed to be a public charge because they have participated in programs like SNAP, creating unprecedented policies that are discriminatory and unjust.”
MAZON joined with other concerned organizations in filing an amicus brief in opposition to the public charge rule on September 11, 2019 in the Northern District of California.
Last year when the Administration proposed this rule change, MAZON’s formal comments to the Department of Homeland Security highlighted that an estimated one-third of U.S. citizens — 107 million people — would fail to meet the revised public charge standards.
Leibman said, “As a Jewish, anti-hunger organization, this cruel policy runs contrary to our deeply held belief that everyone deserves access to the resources they need to feed themselves and their families. Wealth testing as a precondition for immigrating to the U.S. is ludicrous and insulting. We stand resolved in our commitment to continue to fight against this unreasonable and vindictive policy.”