Arizona v. City and County of San Francisco

This case concerns the State of Arizona's attempt to intervene in litigation challenging the Trump-era "public charge" immigration rule. In 2019, the City and County of San Francisco and others sued to block the rule, and a federal district court issued a nationwide injunction. After the Biden administration took office, it declined to defend the rule, leading to the potential dismissal of the case. Arizona sought to intervene to continue defending the rule. On June 15, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Arizona, holding that the lower courts did not abuse their discretion in denying the motion to intervene, as Arizona failed to meet the high standard required for intervention at such a late stage of the litigation.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, affirmed the lower court's ruling and rejected Arizona's bid to intervene, effectively ending the legal defense of the 2019 public charge rule.

Whether the State of Arizona had a right to intervene in ongoing litigation to defend the public charge rule after the federal government abandoned its defense; whether the district court abused its discretion in denying Arizona's motion to intervene given the procedural posture of the case.

The decision marked the definitive end of the Trump-era public charge rule, which had significantly restricted immigration for low-income individuals. The ruling reinforced federal primacy over immigration enforcement and limited the ability of individual states to prolong legal battles over rescinded federal policies. It had a profound impact on immigrant communities, restoring pre-Trump standards for determining whether an immigrant is likely to become a public charge.