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The Supreme Court announced Monday that it plans to review the Trump administration’s public charge rule, even as the Biden administration analyzes it as well. The Trump policy lets the government deny permanent residency to immigrants if they use of food stamps, Medicaid, housing vouchers or other public benefits. Federal courts have struck down the rule, but it remains in effect as the Supreme Court waits to hear an appeal. The case will not be argued until the fall, possibly preventing Biden from undoing it in the meantime. The Associated Press
In other federal immigration news…
DHS Eliminates Trump’s Longer U.S. Citizenship Test
The Biden administration announced it will get rid of the Trump administration’s adjustments to the U.S. citizenship test. The Trump administration required applicants to answer 12 out of 10 questions right instead of the original six out of 10, and increased the number of questions they needed to study from 100 to 128. The Department of Homeland Security said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will go back to using the 2008 exam. USCIS will also allow anyone who took the harder test to retake the exam. U.S. News & World Report
White House Defends Reopening Young Migrant Facilities
The White House defended the recent reopening of a detention facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, to house 700 teenage migrants. The decision outraged immigration advocates, seeing as President Joe Biden condemned the Trump administration’s treatment of migrant children and pledged to reunite families. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the facility was opened to house children awaiting sponsorship and prevent overcrowding in other facilities during the pandemic. The facility is needed because the administration is no longer expelling unaccompanied minors at the border, she added. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other progressive representatives also criticized the Biden administration for opening the facility. The Hill
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