CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO v. USCIS

No. 19-17213, No. 19-17214, No. 19-35914.

981 F.3d 742 (2020)

CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; County of Santa Clara, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, a federal agency; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a federal agency; Chad F. Wolf, in his official capacity as Acting Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security; Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, in his official capacity as Acting Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Defendants-Appellants. State of California; District of Columbia; State of Maine; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; State of Oregon, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a federal agency; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a federal agency; Chad F. Wolf, in his official capacity as Acting Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security; Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, in his official capacity as Acting Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Defendants-Appellants. State of Washington; Commonwealth of Virginia; State of Colorado; State of Delaware; State of Illinois; State of Maryland; Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Dana Nessel, Attorney General on behalf of the People of Michigan; State of Minnesota; State of Nevada; State of New Jersey; State of New Mexico; State of Rhode Island; State of Hawaii, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a federal agency; Chad F. Wolf, in his official capacity as Acting Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security; United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a federal agency; Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, in his official capacity as Acting Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Defendants-Appellants.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Filed December 2, 2020.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Gerard Sinzdak (argued), Daniel Tenny , Joshua Dos Santos , and Jack Starcher , Appellate Staff; David L. Anderson and William D. Hyslop , United States Attorneys; Joseph H. Hunt , Assistant Attorney General; Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington D.C.; for Defendants-Appellants.

H. Luke Edwards (argued), Raphael N. Rajendra , Julia B. Spiegel , and Hannah Kieschnick , Deputy County Counsels; Laura Trice , Lead Deputy County Counsel; Greta S. Hansen , Chief Assistant County Counsel; James R. Williams , County Counsel; Office of the County Counsel, County of Santa Clara, San Jose, California; Dennis J. Herrera , City Attorney; Jesse C. Smith , Chief Assistant City Attorney; Ronald P. Flynn , Chief Deputy City Attorney; Yvonne R. Mere , Chief, Complex & Affirmative Litigation; Sara J. Eisenberg , Chief of Strategic Advocacy; Matthew D. Goldberg , Deputy City Attorney; City Attorney's Office, San Francisco, California; for Plaintiffs-Appellees City and County of San Francisco; County of Santa Clara.

Xavier Becerra , Attorney General; Matthew Rodriguez , Chief Assistant Attorney General; Michael L. Newman , Senior Assistant Attorney General; Cherokee DM Melton , Supervising Deputy Attorney General; Jennifer C. Bonilla , Lisa Cisneros , Rebekah Fretz , Katherine Lehe , Marissa Malouff , Julia Harumi Mass , Anita Garcia Velasco , Brenda Ayon Verduzco , and Anna Rich , Deputy Attorneys General; Office of the Attorney General, Oakland, California; Karl A. Racine , Attorney General; Loren L. AliKhan , Solicitor General; Office of the Attorney General, Washington, D.C.; Aaron M. Frey , Attorney General; Susan P. Herman , Chief Deputy Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General, Augusta, Maine; Ellen Rosenblum , Attorney General; Benjamin Gutman , Solicitor General; Nicole DeFever and Patricia Garcia Rincon , Attorneys; Oregon Department of Justice, Salem, Oregon; Josh Shapiro , Attorney General; Michael J. Fischer , Chief Deputy Attorney General; Aimee D. Thomson , Deputy Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; for Plaintiffs-Appellees State of California, District of Columbia, State of Maine, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and State of Oregon.

Robert W. Ferguson , Attorney General; Noah G. Purcell , Solicitor General; Tera M. Heintz , Deputy Solicitor General; Jeffrey T. Sprung , Nathan K. Bays , and Joshua Weissman , Assistant Attorneys General; Office of the Attorney General, Seattle, Washington; Mark R. Herring , Attorney General; Michelle S. Kallen , Deputy Solicitor General; Jessica Merry Samuels , Assistant Solicitor General; Ryan Spreague Hardy , Alice Anne Lloyd , and Mamoona H. Siddiqui , Assistant Attorneys General; Office of the Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia; Phil Weiser , Attorney General, Eric R. Olson , Solicitor General; Office of the Attorney General, Denver, Colorado; Kathleen Jennings , Attorney General; Aaron R. Goldstein , State Solicitor, Monica A. Horton , Deputy Attorney General; Department of Justice, Wilmington, Delaware; Kwame Raoul , Attorney General; Liza Roberson-Young , Public Interest Counsel; Office of the Attorney General, Chicago, Illinois; Clare C. Connors , Attorney General; Lili A. Young , Deputy Attorney General; Department of the Attorney General, Honolulu, Hawaii; Brian E. Frosh , Attorney General; Jeffrey P. Dunlap , Assistant Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General, Baltimore, Maryland; Maura Healey , Attorney General; Abigail B. Taylor , Chief, Civil Rights Division; David Ureña , Special Assistant Attorney General; Angela Brooks , Assistant Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General, Boston, Massachusetts; Dana Nessel , Attorney General; Fadwa A. Hammoud , Solicitor General; Toni L. Harris , First Assistant Attorney General; Michigan Department of Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan; Keith Ellison , Attorney General; R.J. Detrick , Assistant Attorney General; Attorney General's Office, St. Paul, Minnesota; Aaron D. Ford , Attorney General; Heidi Parry Stern , Solicitor General; Office of the Attorney General; Gurbir S. Grewal , Attorney General; Glenn J. Moramarco , Assistant Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General, Trenton, New Jersey; Hector Balderas , Attorney General; Tania Maestas , Chief Deputy Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Peter F. Neronha , Attorney General; Lauren E. Hill , Special Assistant Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General, Providence, Rhode Island; for Plaintiffs-Appellees Washington, Virginia, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Hawaii.

Edward T. Waters , Phillip A. Escoriaza , and Amanda N. Pervine , Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP, for Amici Curiae Public Health, Health Policy, Medicine, and Nursing Deans, Chairs, and Scholars; American Public Health Association; and American Academy of Nursing.

R. Adam Lauridsen , Chessie Thacher , Victor H. Yu , and Nicholas R. Green , Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP, San Francisco, z`z`California for Amici Curiae National Housing Law Project, Food Research & Action Center, and Center for Law & Social Policy, National Education Association, and Service Employees International Union.

Nicholas Espíritu , Linton Joaquin , Alvaro M. Huerta , Mayra B. Joachin , and Max S. Wolson , National Immigration Law Center, Los Angeles, California; Allon Kedem , Graham White , Jayce Born , Hillary Anderson , Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae Immigrant and Healthcare Service Organizations.

Barbara J. Parker , City Attorney; Maria Bee , Chief Assistant City Attorney; Eric Bernstein , Senior Deputy City Attorney; Malia McPherson , Deputy City Attorney; Caroline Wilson , Fellow; Oakland, California; Michael N. Feuer , City Attorney; Kathleen A. Kenealy , Chief Deputy City Attorney; Danielle L. Goldstein , Deputy City Attorney, Los Angeles, California; Vince Ryan , County Attorney; Robert Hazeltine-Shedd , Assistant County Attorney; Harris County, Houston, Texas; Margaret L. Carter and Daniel R. Suvor , O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Los Angeles, California; Esteban A. Aguilar Jr. , City Attorney, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Anne L. Morgan , City Attorney, Austin, Texas; Andre M. Davis , City Solicitor, Baltimore, Maryland; Mark A. Flessner , Corporation Counsel; Benna Ruth Solomon , Deputy Corporation Counsel, Chicago, Illinois; Barbara J. Doseck , Director of Law; John C. Muston , Chief Trial Counsel, Dayton, Ohio; Crystal Barnes , Acting City Solicitor, Holyoke, Massachusetts; Howard Phillip Schneiderman , Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, King County, Seattle, Washington; Brian E. Washington , County Counsel, County of Marin, San Rafael, California; Charles J. McKee , County Counsel; William M. Litt , Anne K. Brereton , and Marina S. Pantchenko , Deputy County Counsels; County of Monterey, Salinas, California; Marc. P. Hansen , County Attorney, Montgomery County, Rockville, Maryland; Marcel S. Pratt , City Solicitor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Susana Alcala Wood , City Attorney, Sacramento, California; John C. Beiers , County Counsel; David A. Silverman , Chief Deputy County Counsel; Ilana Parmer Mandelbaum , Deputy County Counsel; County of San Mateo, Redwood City, California; Peter S. Holmes , City Attorney, Seattle, Washington; Michael Tubbs , Mayor, Stockton, California; Michael Jenkins , City Attorney, West Hollywood, California; for Amici Curiae 20 Counties, Cities, and Municipalities.

Denny Chan , Justice in Aging, Los Angeles, California; Regan Bailey and Natalie Kean , Justice in Aging, Washington, D.C.; Russel L. Hirschhorn and Christopher Spadaro , Proskauer Rose LLP, New York, New York; for Amici Curiae Justice in Aging, American Society on Aging, Caring Across Generations, Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, Jewish Federations of North America, National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, National Council on Aging, National Hispanic Council on Aging, Mazon, Phi, and Center for Medicare Advocacy.

Alexandra Wald , Cohen & Gresser LLP, New York, New York; Elizabeth B. Wydra , Brianne J. Gorod , and Dayna J. Zolle , Constitutional Accountability Center, Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae Legal Historians.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg and Kelly Salzmann , Legal Aid Justice Center, Falls Church, Virginia; Ariel Nelson and Chi Chi Wu , National Consumer Law Center, Boston, Massachusetts; for Amici Curiae National Consumer Law Center, Legal Aid Justice Center, Public Citizen Inc., Consumer Action, Equal Justice Society, Impact Fund, Secure Justice, Media Alliance, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, and New Economy Project.

Richard L. Revesz , Jack Lienke , and Max Sarinsky , New York, New York, as and for Amicus Curiae Institute for Policy Integrity.

Debra Gardner , Monisha Cherayil , Sally Dworak-Fisher , and Tyra Robinson , Baltimore, Maryland, as and for Amicus Curiae Public Justice Center.

Paul J. Lawrence and Alanna E. Peterson , Pacifica Law Group, Seattle, Washington, for Amici Curiae Nonprofit Anti-Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Organizations.

Diana Kasdan , Pilar Herrero , Amy Myrick , and Elyssa Spitzer , New York, New York, as and for Amicus Curiae Center for Reproductive Rights.

Robert M. Loeb , Thomas M. Bondy , Peter E. Davis , and Emily Green , Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Washington, D.C.; Douglas N. Letter , General Counsel; Todd B. Tatelman , Principal Deputy General Counsel; Megan Barbero , Josephine Morse , Adam A. Grogg , and William E. Havemann , Deputy General Counsel; Office of General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae United States House of Representatives.

Harry Lee , Mary Woodson Poag , Johanna Dennehy , Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae Immigration Law Professors.

Emily Tomoko Kuwahara , Crowell & Moring LLP, Los Angeles, California; Austin J. Sutta , Crowell & Moring LLP, San Francisco, California; for Amici Curiae Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, National Women's Law Center, and 38 Other Amici Curiae.

Sadik Huseny , Brittany N. Lovejoy , Joseph C. Hansen , Tess L. Curet , and Alexandra B. Plutshack , Latham & Watkins LLP, San Francisco, California, for Amici Curiae Fiscal Policy Institute, President's Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and 12 Other Amici Curiae.

Susan M. Krumplitsch , Elizabeth Stameshkin , and Priyamvada Arora , Cooley LLP, Palo Alto, California, for Amici Curiae American Academy of Pediatrics; American Medical Association; American College of Physicians; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; California Medical Association; American Academy of Pediatrics, California; American Academy of Pediatrics, Hawaii Chapter; Alaska Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; and Nevada Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics.

Paul W. Hughes , Michael B. Kimberly , and Matthew A. Waring , McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae 105 Businesses and Organizations.

Dissent by Judge VanDyke.


OPINION

The phrase "public charge" enjoys a rich history in Anglo-American lore and literature, one more colorful than our American law on the subject. There have been relatively few published court decisions construing the phrase, even though our immigration statutes have barred admission to immigrants who are...

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