BOSTON — Massachusetts and 21 other states filed a lawsuit Monday challenging a new immigration rule.
The states said the rule, which is set to take effect Friday, would allow the Trump administration to deny green cards to immigrants who rely on public assistance programs.
“Access to basic necessities like food, health care, and housing should never be used as a weapon against immigrants, and immigrants should never be forced to choose between getting the help they need while seeking permanent status in this country,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.
The attorneys general are asking a federal judge to declare the 2026 public charge rule unlawful and vacate it.
Campbell and the coalition said the new rule could lead immigrant families to disenroll from benefits that they are legally entitled to.
Under the rule, immigration officers could count any means-tested public benefit used for any time period against an applicant.
The Department of Homeland Security estimated the rule could reduce federal Medicaid and CHIP transfer payments to states by approximately $4.05 billion annually due to benefit disenrollment or forgone enrollment.
The agency also estimated federal SNAP transfer payments would decline by approximately $1.02 billion annually.
Campbell and the coalition also argued that the new rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act due to exceeding DHS’s statutory authority.
The lawsuit filing includes the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, and the governor of Pennsylvania.
The lawsuit was also filed alongside a coalition of cities and counties led by the City of New York.
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