U.S. Supreme Court agrees to dismiss case challenging Trump's "public charge" rule

Photo taken on Feb. 22, 2021 shows the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The request signaled that the Biden administration is likely to scrap the "public charge" rule on its own, said U.S. media.

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to a request from President Joe Biden's administration to dismiss a case challenging the so-called "public charge" rule introduced by former President Donald Trump's government with an aim to limit access to green cards for those deemed likely to accept public benefits.

The request signaled that the Biden administration is likely to scrap the rule on its own, said a news report of The Hill, which noted the White House has already mandated a review of the rule by the Department of Homeland Security in an early February executive order.

The highest court agreed last month to hear challenges to the 2018 rule by a number of states and advocacy groups that argued it amounted to a wealth test for immigrants. The Trump administration insisted it was in the best interests of the United States to ensure immigrants could be self-sufficient.

"Immigrant families can now access life-saving health care, food, and housing assistance for which they are eligible without fear that they will lose the chance to obtain lawful permanent residence, because the actions today mean that the harmful Trump public charge rule will again be blocked," the Legal Aid Society, Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. and others who had challenged the rule said in a release on Tuesday.

The Biden administration has taken a similar posture in other major immigration cases, convincing the Supreme Court to cancel hearings on cases challenging Trump's border wall and his changes to the asylum process, according to the report.