Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

City and County of San Francisco, et. al. v. USCIS

On December 2, 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld preliminary injunctions issued against DHS’s Public Charge Rule. In its order, the panel majority vacated a nationwide injunction issued by the Eastern District of Washington. Consequently, it remains unclear whether the Eastern District of Washington will need to revisit its order to address the scope of relief.

Residents of Certain States

The current injunction applies to the plaintiff states:  CA, DC, ME, OR, PA, WA, CO, DE, IL, MD, MA, MN, NV, NJ, NM, RI, HI. Residents of those states are not required to comply with the public charge rule according to the 9th circuit ruling.  However, the injunction does not take effect until the Ninth Circuit issues the mandate, which is 7 days after the expiration of the time allocated for a Petition for Rehearing (FRAP 4.1).  As such, the public charge rule should remain in effect until January 27, 2021.

USCIS Response

USCIS has not decided how it will implement the state-specific injunction.  Instead, the agency will likely move for an immediate stay of the injunction as it has done in the past prior to issuing further guidance.

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide any updates regarding implementation.