AG Bonta, AG Raoul, and AG James co-led a coalition of 19 AGs to sue the Trump Administration’s new rule dramatically expanding the ability of immigration officials to use participation in public benefits programs as grounds to deny lawful permanent residency. In today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that the Trump Administration’s rewrite of more than a century of settled immigration law exceeds its statutory authority.

“[…]The Trump Administration is seeking to rewrite more than 100 years of law with its expansive new definition of who is considered a ‘public charge.’ In doing so, it is providing individual immigration officers with the discretion and power to punish families for lawfully accessing certain public benefits programs during short-term periods of need. This Administration’s cruelty continues to know no bounds. We’re going to court on behalf of the millions of immigrants who call this state home — and we will fight to get this unlawful rule undone.” – AG Bonta