Supreme Court again declines to take up appeal from GOP-led states seeking to intervene in case over ‘public charge’ immigration policy

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter

The Supreme Court declined once again on Monday to take up an appeal from a group of Republican-led states seeking to intervene in a case challenging the Trump-era “public charge” immigration policy, a version of which the Biden administration has abandoned.

The court’s move was not unexpected, and the case did not center on the legality of the rule but instead whether the Biden administration followed proper procedures when it set out to revoke the rule and dismiss pending legal challenges.

The Trump-era policy — an expansion of the so-called “public charge” rule — made it more difficult for immigrants to obtain legal status if they use certain public benefits, such as Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers.

Last June, the Supreme Court dismissed a similar attempt, dealing a blow to the states who were trying to reinvigorate legal challenges.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a concurrence back then which was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, to explain their votes to dismiss the challenges.

Roberts expressed frustration with the Biden administration for sidestepping certain procedures for reversing the Trump policy. He said the maneuvers raised “a host of important questions” for future disputes.

Nevertheless, he said it had “become clear that this mare’s nest could stand in the way of our reaching the question presented” in the case, and therefore agreed that the challenge should be dismissed.

The case returned to the lower courts, where the lower courts held that the new appeal was untimely.

The-CNN-Wire
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