On September 14, 2026, New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul co-led a coalition of 22 attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania in suing the Trump administration to block a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “public charge” rule that significantly expands immigration officials’ ability to deny lawful permanent residency based on immigrants’ or their family members’ use of public benefits. The multistate lawsuit challenges a rule scheduled to take effect on September 18, 2026, that would give individual immigration officers broad discretion to consider nearly any use of public benefits—including health coverage, food assistance, and school meals—when determining whether an immigrant is likely to become a “public charge.”

For more than 140 years, the term “public charge” has generally referred to an individual who is or is likely to become primarily dependent on the government for long-term subsistence. However, under the new rule, immigration officials could consider any public benefit used for any period of time and could even consider benefits lawfully received by an applicant’s U.S.-citizen family members. For example, a noncitizen parent’s green card application could potentially be negatively affected because their U.S.-citizen child receives state-provided health insurance or participates in a free school lunch program.

The states argue that the rule will create a significant “chilling effect,” causing eligible families—including U.S.-citizen children—to withdraw from critical public programs out of fear of immigration consequences.

The federal government has acknowledged that a prior version of the public charge rule resulted in benefit disenrollment rates as high as 35% among mixed-status families and 60% among refugees. DHS itself estimates that the new rule’s chilling effect could cost states approximately $4.05 billion annually in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program funding and another $1 billion annually in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding nationwide. The coalition warns that reduced enrollment could strain hospitals and community health centers, jeopardize school meal and Title I funding, hurt local businesses that rely on SNAP spending, and impose additional administrative costs on states.

The states are asking the court to declare the new public charge rule unlawful and vacate it before families are forced to forgo essential benefits out of fear that using them could jeopardize their immigration status. 

Hardworking families should not be forced to go without the support they need because they fear asking for assistance will get them deported. This rule preys on that fear and counts on families forfeiting the food assistance, health care coverage, and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled.New York Attorney General Letitia James