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California has moved proactively to support immigrant families in response to restrictive federal immigration and safety net policies, but policies like the new “public charge” rule still pose risks, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new rule significantly expands the criteria for determining whether applicants for permanent residency, or green cards, may be denied based on past or potential use of government benefit programs.
This month’s edition of GCIR’s Monthly Immigration Policy Calls will provide an in-depth review of this regulation, explore the meaning of ‘public charge,’ and highlight how a campaign, “Protecting Immigrant Families, Advancing Our Future,” is uniting a cross-sector of key national, state, and local level organizations to protect and defend access to health care, nutrition programs, public services, and economic supports for immigrants and their families.
The Trump administration has launched its most far-reaching attack on immigrants to date in the guise of a seemingly innocuous regulatory change: the revised “public charge” rule. When the new rule goes into effect on October 15, barring delays due to litigation, immigrants accessing programs that help them meet basic needs, such as food, housing, and health care, can be denied a green card, and individuals deemed likely to use these programs can be denied admission to the United States.
The PIF Campaign recommends against proactively connecting coronavirus and public charge. In light of efforts by anti-immigrant activists to link immigration with infectious disease, PIF prefers to focus communication elsewhere.
A statement by multiple Chicago-based foundations denouncing the Trump administration's proposed changes to the "public charge" rule.