‘Trump’s public charge rule likely to be scrapped by Biden admin’

The rule was introduced with an aim to limit access to green cards for those deemed likely to accept public benefits

The US Supreme Court has 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 with an aim to limit access to green cards for those deemed likely to accept public benefits.

Tuesday’s request signalled that the Biden administration is likely to scrap the rule on its own, Xinhua news agency quoted a report published by The Hill news website. The report noted that the White House has already mandated a review of the rule by the Department of Homeland Security in a 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 US 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 joint statement on Tuesday.

“The Trump rule erected an invisible wall in the form of a wealth test that discriminated against people on the basis of race as a condition for regularising their immigration status. And because of the public charge rule, immigrant families have been living in fear of using essential benefits like health care, despite serving as frontline workers who have been among those hardest hit by COVID-19,” it added.

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.

‘Oz economy performing better than expected’
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe on Wednesday said that the country’s economy has performed better than expected in terms of pandemic recovery due to virus suppression and targeted stimulus measures.

‘No date fixed for J&J vaccine deliveries’

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the country still does not have a target date for first deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine because of manufacturing problems. “We have heard in many conversations with Johnson & Johnson that there are challenges around the production of the Janssen vaccine, but we will continue to engage with them, and we look forward to receiving doses as soon as possible,” Trudeau said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Iran to start vaccination with domestic jab
Iran will begin its COVID-19 vaccination programme using the domestic jab, COV-Iran Barekat, a top official said. “We have a big potential in the mass production of this vaccine, and after the next two to two-and-a-half months, we will not have any concerns about stocks,” the official added.

2,54,644
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

11,76,71,884
Total no. of cases worldwide

26,12,526
Total no. of deaths worldwide

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