DHS unwinds Trump-era public charge restrictions
The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a rule to replace Trump-era limitations that sought to limit immigration of those it feared may rely on social services.
The new Department of Homeland Security policy rolls back the Trump administration’s so-called public charge rule, restricting immigration pathways for those seeking to become U.S. citizens only if they are “primarily dependent on the government for subsistence.”
The Biden administration stopped defending the Trump-era rule just months after taking office, but the new rule is a departure from a Trump-era policy requiring prospective new citizens to forecast whether they might at any time rely on government aid.
It barred those who received assistance from one program over the course of a year, and roped in new programs that were previously excluded from consideration, including food stamps and medical assistance.
“This action ensures fair and humane treatment of legal immigrants and their U.S. citizen family members,” said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a release.
“Consistent with America’s bedrock values, we will not penalize individuals for choosing to access the health benefits and other supplemental government services available to them.”
The Hill first reported the rule was expected to be released Thursday.
DHS described its new rule as restoring “the historical understanding of a ‘public charge’ that had been in place for decades, until the prior administration began to consider supplemental public health benefits such as Medicaid and nutritional assistance.”
An applicant’s use of cash assistance programs will still be weighed as a factor in a green card application.
The Trump-era public charge rule was one of a number of restrictions the administration sought to put in place, restricting pathways to citizenship for those already in the U.S. as well as for those overseas seeking immigration visas.
But the Biden administration said the policy had ramifications for U.S. citizens as well, particularly in households where parents hold different immigration statuses, noting a drop of enrollment in such programs for children from such families.
Source: TEST FEED1
