Rep. Chu Joins Amicus Brief in Public Charge Cases

Washington, DC — Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), joined with other members of the Congressional Tri-Caucus to file an amicus brief in support of several cases against the Trump Administration's public charge rule. The amicus brief argues that the public charge rule was written with discriminatory intent against non-white, non-European immigrants and is thus in violation of the Equal Protection Clause and the Administrative Procedure Act. The brief cites as evidence statements by President Trump and high-ranking officials in his administration and data showing the disproportionately harmful impact the rule would have on Latino, Asian Pacific Islander, and Black immigrants if it goes into effect. Rep. Chu issued the following statement:

"Racial animus has been the driving force behind Donald Trump's policies from the very start of his campaign, and even before then. The public charge rule is just the latest example. But it is a dangerous one that cannot be allowed to go into effect. By putting a price on entering America, the Trump Administration is putting the lives of immigrants of color at risk by discouraging them from accessing programs like Medicaid, which they have paid into and are legally entitled to benefit from, for fear of punishment from this administration. This hateful policy, which will keep families apart, is also counterproductive since family-reunification is one of the main reasons immigrants are less likely to use public benefits in the first place. So Trump is making life harder for immigrants and then punishing them for the consequences of his own actions. This highlights that the policy was designed not to improve immigration, but to reduce it. Specifically, it is intended to reduce non-white immigration, as the President's comments have made clear. He believes non-whites are undeserving of being Americans, and with the help of xenophobes like Stephen Miller, he is actively advancing policies to make America white again. We are urging the courts to see this hateful policy for what it is and stop it from going into effect."

In addition to CAPAC Chair Rep. Chu, the brief is co-led by Whip of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Adriano Espaillat, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Immigration Task Force Yvette Clarke, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Joaquin Castro, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Karen Bass, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Immigration Task Force Pramila Jayapal, and Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Healthcare Task Force Barbara Lee.

The brief was filled in the cases State of New York et al. v. Department of Homeland Security et al. and Make the Road New York et al. v. Cuccinelli et al. in New York on Wednesday and in the cases La Clínica de la Raza et al. v. Trump et al. and State of California et al. v. Department of Homeland Security et al. in California on Tuesday evening in support of requests for a preliminary injunction by the plaintiffs in those cases. If the preliminary injunction requests are not successful, the public charge rule will go into effect on October 15th, 2019.