President Trump visits the Southern border fence in Otay Mesa, California, on Sept. 18. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
A federal judge temporarily blocked Saturday a Trump administration
proclamation requiring immigrant-visa applicants to prove they can obtain health insurance within 30 days of entering the U.S. or cover their own health care costs.
Facing a likely risk of being separated from their family members and a delay in obtaining a visa to which family members would otherwise be entitled is irreparable harm."— Judge Michael Simon
Why it matters: It's another legal blow for the hardline immigration plans 0f President Trump's administration.
- The New York Times notes the administration was hit by temporary court injunctions in New York, California and Washington State preventing the implementation of its "public charge" rule. The move would make it harder for immigrants to gain legal status if they're likely to rely on public programs — including Medicaid or subsidies through the Affordable Care Act.
- The rulings are likely to be appealed, and Steve Yale-Loehr, an immigration professor at Cornell Law School, predicted to the NYT the decisions on the issue would "go all the way to the Supreme Court."
The big picture: The new rule was due to take effect just after midnight on Sunday, but the 28-day temporary restraining order issued by Judge Michael Simon in the U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, halts those plans.
- A recent increase in the number of people without health insurance has coincided with the Trump administration discouraging immigrants from applying for and using government health care programs, like Medicaid.
Read the order:
Go deeper: Fear over Trump's immigration crackdown may be linked to rise in uninsured