AILA Quicktake #276: AILA and Partners Join Forces to Litigate Health Insurance Proclamation
AILA joins litigators from the Justice Action Center (JAC), and the Innovation Law Lab, with Sidley Austin LLP providing pro bono assistance, to file suit in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon to halt implementation of the administration’s health care ban for immigrants, announced via presidential proclamation on October 4, 2019. AILA’s Director of Federal Litigation Jesse Bless explains how and why AILA fights against this proclamation.
Video Transcript
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On October 4th, late at night at Friday night,
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the President issued a new proclamation
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targeting those who apply for visas abroad. Immigrant visas.
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And what he requires now is that immigrant visas show up with proof
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that they can obtain insurance within 30 days,
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and if they cannot show that, prove that they have the financial ability
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to pay for foreseeable medical costs upon their arrival.
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The vague and opaque language in the proclamation has left many concerned,
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and we share that concern with our membership and our viewership.
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Now, the agencies have taken no steps to help guide us
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on the effective date which is November 3rd, a Sunday,
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and it will apply to anyone applying for an immigrant visa on or after that date.
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Obviously there are many people in the United States
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leaving for interviews in November and those who are abroad,
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separate from their families or soon to be separate from their families
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who honestly cannot make heads or tails of what is required to show them
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and if so how they can stay united with their family.
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One of the most problematic aspects of the proclamation
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is that if forbids anyone to obtain subsidized insurance and in fact
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lays out amorphous categories of what the president considers
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approved health insurance.
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Let me tell you what we're doing at AILA to combat the presidential proclamation.
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We've joined forces with the Justice Action Center,
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the law firm of Sibley Austin, and the Portland based Innovation Law Labs
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to file a complaint in the district of Oregon Federal Court,
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challenging the lawfulness of the president's action.
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We have many great individual plaintiffs and an organizational plaintiff
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who will be severely affected
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and separated from their hard-working family members.
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They've done nothing wrong.
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And they deserve to have their immigrant visas approved,
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and not have their community ripped apart due to Presidential fiat.
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One of our plaintiffs is a United States citizen man,
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who goes to work every day to raise his son.
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His wife remains in Mexico,
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And has waited years for a chance at an immigrant visa.
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She has her interview scheduled for November 6.
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Our plaintiff is disabled and
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relies on subsidized health insurance which he pays for,
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and now he faces the daunting prospect of being unable to bring his wife here.
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Simply because of the president's Proclamation.
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We're excited to have a great team working on this.
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It'll be a long fight but it's a worthy fight.
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Because hard-working families
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who meet the statutory requirements set out by Congress
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deserve their immigrant visa and do not deserve to live
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separately and apart from their family members here in the United States.