Judge Rules Against Trump's Requirement for Possible Immigrants to Have Health Insurance

An Oregon federal judge temporarily blocked a US administration rule that would have demanded from would-be-immigrants to prove they would apply for health insurance of the United States within 30 days upon their arrival or have enough money to pay for 'reasonably foreseeable medical costs'.

Judge Michael Simon in District Court in Portland, Oregon, issued a 28-day temporary restraining order that prevents the rule from coming into effect on 3 November.

Several US citizens and an advocacy organization sued the US administration in an effort to prevent the rule from entering into force, arguing it 'rewrites our immigration and healthcare laws by Presidential fiat' and could serve as a stumbling block for immigrants trying to enter the country.

Acting US Customs and Border Protection agency's head John Sanders had earlier dubbed the situation at the US-Mexican frontier a 'full-blown emergency'. According to the agency, although the flow decreased during the summer, the number of illegal border crossings is greater this year than in 2018. Since the beginning of the year, some 811,000 people have been detained.

Seven states and dozens of cities limit their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agents to protect illegal immigrants by providing them shelter.

Under sanctuary policies, many jails release illegal immigrants who have been convicted or charged with a crime without notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to Republican Congressman Mo Brooks, around 2,000 Americans die at the hands of illegal aliens every year.

In 2015, Trump pledged to build a wall along the entire 3,150-kilometre-long Mexico border with the aim of preventing illegal migrants from entering the country.