ICAP successfully represented a D.C.-area immigration non-profit and two of its members in challenging an August 2019 Department of Homeland Security rule that would have given nearly unfettered discretion to immigration officials to deny green cards to low-income immigrants based on speculation that the person may, at some point over the course of a lifetime, temporarily receive a small amount of certain public benefits and thereby become a “public charge.”
In March 2021, DHS determined that continuing to defend the August 2019 rule against litigation was neither in the public interest nor an efficient use of limited government resources, and the Department of Justice voluntarily dismissed its appeals of judicial decisions invalidating or enjoining enforcement of the Rule. In September 2022, DHS published a final rule officially rescinding the August 2019 rule.
