By
NBC News
The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to review the request of 13 states governed by the Republican Party to reactivate a rule of the Government of Donald Trump that denied permanent residence to immigrants who are considered prone to depend on public aid.
Previously, this rule was limited to assessing whether the applicant for the
green card would
depend on cash assistance, but the Department of Homeland Security expanded it in 2019 to include other types of
non-monetary benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance.
[Supreme Court will review Trump's public charge rule against immigrants]
It also extended its reach to those officials believed might need such assistance for more than 12 months in a three-year period.
After a series of lawsuits, several courts issued conflicting opinions on the legality of Trump's measure, and before a final ruling could be reached, the Joe Biden government decided to stop defending that policy and thus allow it to be blocked.
In this January 2019 file photo, hundreds of people line up outside an immigration office in San Francisco.Eric Risberg / AP
But
a group of 13 Republican attorneys general asked the Supreme Court to consider whether their states can continue to enforce the measure
.
They claimed that failing to do so would cost them about $ 1 billion a year altogether.
The federal government has long had the authority to deny permanent residency to those immigrants it deemed most likely to become a public charge, but it never formally defined the term.
Trump's policy filled that gap, including non-cash benefits and other factors such as age, financial resources, employment history, education and health.
And he assured that this expansion, in the end, would reinforce "the ideals of personal responsibility and self-sufficiency, ensuring that immigrants are able to support themselves and become successful in the United States."
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case next spring and reach a decision in June.
