Benjamin Collins, Bingbing Yu, and the Health Freedom Defense Fund (HFDF) filed a motion asking a federal court to preliminarily enjoin the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from continuing to demand that Green Card applicants show proof of Covid-19 vaccination to obtain permanent residence.
The lawsuit argues that CDC and USCIS acted unlawfully by including Covid-19 vaccines on the list of vaccinations required for lawful immigration because Covid is not a vaccine-preventable disease and federal law only permits mandates for “vaccine-preventable” diseases. CDC and other federal agencies have acknowledged that Covid vaccines prevent neither transmission nor infection.
“Our government has recognized that the Covid-19 shots do not prevent a person from contracting Covid-19, yet CDC and USCIS persist in their Covid vaccine requirement. That is the definition of arbitrary action and should be halted immediately, before it tears more families apart,” said HFDF attorney Scott Street.
In addition to the Collins-Yu family, HFDF is in touch with numerous other families, some of whom face imminent separation if the court does not act to halt this arbitrary and unlawful policy immediately.
“The government is charged with protecting our rights, not discriminating against some for their personal healthcare choices,” said Leslie Manookian, president of HFDF. “But when federal agencies allow millions of unvaccinated illegal immigrants and tourists to enter the country while demanding that law abiding green card applicants submit to the ineffective Covid injection, the government is discriminating and must be restrained.”
“It is a travesty that so many Americans are stranded outside the U.S. and can’t come home without leaving their unvaccinated spouse abroad,” she added.
This situation perfectly illustrates the overreach of the federal government. It has continued this policy likely in the expectation that affected families would be unable to secure the resources to challenge it, which is why HFDF seeks to correct this injustice and hold federal agencies accountable.
We call on the incoming Administration to rescind this irrational and unlawful policy before it ruins more lives. Until then, we will continue to take these fights to the courts in cases like this.
The Motion for Preliminary Injunction and other case documents can be read here.
