Implementation of Health Insurance Proclamation Halted

On November 2, 2019, a coalition of interested parties, including the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Justice Action Center and the Innovation Law Lab, was successful in halting the implementation of Presidential Proclamation 9945 for the moment. As discussed in a previous post, the Proclamation was set to become effective on November 3, 2019 and suspend the entry of certain immigrants based on their ability to obtain health insurance coverage or the financial resources to pay for reasonably foreseeable medical costs upon entry into the United States.

However, parties filed suit on October 30, 2019 seeking to halt implementation, and the U.S. District Court in Portland recently granted their request for a temporary restraining order. Doe v. Trump challenges the proclamation as unconstitutional and asserts it violates separation of powers by unilaterally rewriting U.S immigration laws and violating Congress’s expressed intent to provide affordable healthcare coverage to legal immigrants regardless of financial status. Further developments will follow as the court considers the full merits of the case in the coming weeks.