Immigration Law

4 federal judges rule against Trump on immigration issues in 1 day

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Four federal judges ruled against two immigration policies by President Donald Trump on Friday.

Three judges issued injunctions temporarily blocking the so-called public-charge rule that would make it more difficult for immigrants to get legal residency if they receive or are likely to receive government assistance, report the New York Times, the Associated Press and the Washington Post.

Judges in New York and Washington state issued nationwide injunctions blocking the policy change, while a judge in California issued an injunction that was confined to states within the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A press release on the New York ruling is here.

The rule change expanded the definition of “public charge” to allow the government to deny green cards to many immigrants who use government benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance.

A fourth judge said Trump’s declaration of a national border emergency, used to justify the transfer of funds for his border wall, violated the law appropriating $1.375 billion for border wall expenditures, according to the New York Times, CNBC and Politico.

The decision by U.S. District Judge David Briones of El Paso, Texas, invited the plaintiffs to submit a proposed preliminary injunction.

The U.S. Supreme Court lifted an injunction in July that had blocked Trump from using $2.5 billion in narcotics-trafficking funds to build the border wall. The injunction was issued in a different lawsuit, and it involved a different funding source for the wall, according to the New York Times.

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