The governors are arguing that the new rule risks public health. From Law 360:
New York, Vermont and Connecticut, joined by New York City, told the justices that the so-called “public charge” rule, which penalizes green card applicants found likely to use public assistance programs, deters immigrants from using food and health care benefits out of fear, even those that wouldn’t count against them under the policy.
As a result, immigrants could be discouraged from seeking out medical testing or treatment if they feel sick, increasing the chances that they could die from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, or spread the virus inadvertently, the states argued.
“Every person who doesn’t get the health coverage they need today risks infecting another person with the coronavirus tomorrow,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the state coalition, said in a statement Monday.
The high court had given the U.S. Department of Homeland Security the green light earlier this year to carry out the new immigration rule while an onslaught of legal challenges to it continued, despite five federal court orders that the measure was likely illegal.