A federal appeals court in California on Thursday ruled to lift a ban on President Donald Trump’s proclamation that blocks immigrants from entering the United States if they lack health insurance or the means to pay for hospital bills.
In a Dec. 31 opinion (pdf), the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said that Trump acted within his authority when, in October 2019, he signed the Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry of Immigrants Who Will Financially Burden the United States Healthcare System. The ruling reverses a federal court decision to block the implementation of the president’s order, delivering a win for proponents of tighter controls over immigration.
Trump’s order restricts entry of immigrant visa applicants who cannot prove that they either will acquire qualifying healthcare coverage within 30 days of entry or have the ability to pay for reasonably foreseeable healthcare expenses. The president said in the proclamation that American taxpayers bear the costs associated with providing health care to uninsured immigrants, coming in the form of higher taxes, higher premiums, and higher fees for medical services.
After Trump issued the proclamation, seven U.S. citizens sued, claiming the order unfairly blocked their family members from immigrating to the United States. A district judge in Oregon issued a nationwide preliminary injunction in the case in November 2019, blocking implementation of Trump’s order while the lawsuit continued, arguing that the proclamation was likely illegal and the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of the case.
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