NEW YORK — Letitia James, New York attorney general, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s Public Charge Rule, a new rule that aims to deny green cards and visas to immigrants that use or have used government assistance programs.

The suit, filed in the Southern District of New York and joined by the states of Connecticut and Vermont and the city of New York, challenges the administration’s attempt to specifically target immigrants of color, while putting these communities at risk.

“Generations of citizens landed on the welcoming shores of Ellis Island with nothing more than a dream in their pockets,” James said. “The Trump Administration’s thinly veiled efforts to only allow those who meet their narrow ethnic, racial and economic criteria to gain a path to citizenship is a clear violation of our laws and our values. Quite simply, under this rule, more children will go hungry, more families will go without medical care and more people will be living in the shadows and on the streets. We cannot and we will not let that happen.”

In the suit, the coalition argues that the Department of Homeland Security’s new public charge definition disregards clear congressional intent and case law holding that immigrants who use basic, non-cash benefits are not considered public charges because they are not primarily dependent on the government. Additionally, James said the public charge rule weaponizes the public charge inquiry to specifically target immigrants of color, immigrants with disabilities, and low-income immigrants. She said the change misunderstands that non-cash programs are designed to help immigrants who arrive in this country with limited means move out of poverty and achieve upward mobility.