New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city will take the Trump administration to court over a new rule that will prohibit entry to immigrants or deny visa renewals based on their reliance to government benefits.
“The President is launching a direct assault on our immigrant brothers and sisters. The America we know was built by hardworking dreamers from all over the world,” de Blasio, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said in a Monday press statement. “That’s the America we’re fighting to protect. To our immigrant New Yorkers: We stand with you now and always. To our president: We’ll see you in court.”
New York City’s Office of Immigrant Affair’s Commissioner Bitta Mostofi concurred with the mayor, saying, “The ‘public charge’ rule is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to instill fear and concern among working immigrant families, but rest assured — New Yorkers are fighters and the city will do everything in our power to ensure people have the resources they need to at this critical time.”
Mostofi also offered up the city’s local help line to access the “city-funded, trusted legal advice. The city is here to help you make the right decision for you and your family.”
The announcement from the mayor’s office comes six days after a judge denied a bid to force the city to hand over redacted versions of documents that people, including illegal immigrants, turned in to apply for the city’s municipal ID card known as “IDNYC.”
The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services proposed the rule change back in September and submitted the update on Monday.
