Trump immigrant policy appealed

NEW YORK — A federal appeals court is considering whether to lift the final nationwide temporary injunction against a Trump administration policy that would deny green cards to immigrants over their use of public benefits.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan heard arguments Tuesday over keeping or lifting the injunction issued in October by a federal district court in New York that prevented the policy from going into effect across the country while a lawsuit against it is proceeding.

A regional injunction issued in California and another national injunction issued in Washington have already been lifted by other federal appeals courts, leaving New York’s as the only impediment to the Trump administration using the new rule. An injunction in Illinois is in effect, but only applies to that state.

On Tuesday, the judicial panel pressed the government’s attorney on why the injunction needed to be lifted at this point when the lawsuit itself would be heard by a judge in the coming months, and when the current framework had been in place for many years.

“Has there been a declaration of emergency by the president or anyone else that says this has to come into place immediately?” Judge Guido Calabresi asked Justice Department attorney Daniel Tenny, to which he replied there hadn’t been.

The judges questioned the attorneys representing the states and nonprofits that had filed against the government policy over why there was a need for a nationwide injunction instead of a more localized one. And while the hearing’s scope didn’t include ruling on the merits of the rule itself, the judges did ask some questions touching on how much authority the executive branch had to issue its new regulations.