On Friday, January 17, over one hundred technology companies jointly filed an Amicus Brief challenging the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule. These companies joined a nationwide lawsuit to assert that the proposed policy would adversely affect U.S. employers. The brief argues that the proposed rule will:
- Discourage immigrants from using public benefits they are otherwise entitled to;
- Shift the burdens of low-income immigrants onto state resources; and,
- Threaten public health at large.
The brief is backed by several multinational technology corporations including: Microsoft, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, and Amazon.
As previously reported, the “public charge” rule would limit immigration benefits for those applicants who participate in government assistance programs. Following several preliminary injunctions, the Ninth Circuit and Fourth Circuits stayed these orders pending the Federal government’s appeal. The Second Circuit, however, has declined to lift the final remaining injunction prompting the Trump administration to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court.