New Public Charge Rule Published

The Trump administration published a new rule today which will penalize legal immigrants who rely (or might rely) on public programs, such as food stamps and government-subsidized housing. The rule, known as the Public Charge Rule, is part of a broad new Trump policy directive aimed at reducing overall legal immigration into the United States.

In the absence of any significant immigration legislation, the Trump administration is turning to restrictive regulations and rules to reduce immigration.

The rule allows for the denial of many green card and visa applicants if they have low incomes or little education, or have used benefits such as most forms of Medicaid, food stamps, and housing vouchers, because they'd be deemed more likely to need government assistance in the future. The rule creates a dangerous presumption of future poverty, allowing the government to discriminate against low income applicants, regardless of their family connections to the United States.

The regulation, which is scheduled to go into effect in 60 days, will likely create hundreds of thousands of visa denials for low income applicants. It will also likely deter thousands of legal immigrants in the US already from claiming the public assistance they might need.

Our ideals as a nation are yet again under direct attack by the Trump administration. Our nation was founded and built by poor immigrants.