&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Green cards at risk? New DHS rule could punish immigrants for using SNAP, Medicaid")
US President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed a new rule, reversing a Biden-era policy, that could make it harder for some immigrants to obtain a green card if they use government benefits like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid or other health and social services. The new proposal, published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, was released by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this week.
“Rescission would restore broader discretion to evaluate all pertinent facts and align with long-standing policy that aliens in the United States should be self-reliant and government benefits should not incentivize immigration,” the proposal states, as quoted by NPR.
The Trump administration and Republicans have alleged rampant fraud in immigrants’ use of social safety net programs. Critics have argued that the recent broad scope proposal is too vague and could disincentivise the use of the benefits by immigrants who require them and are eligible for them.
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People without legal status do not have access to public benefits like SNAP, Medicaid and the healthcare marketplace. Even then, Congress recently imposed further restrictions on a range of lawfully present immigrants, including refugees and those with other humanitarian protections. The government has also cut funding to those states that use their own funds for providing healthcare regardless of citizenship status.
The new proposed rule would also consider state-funded benefits while reviewing applications of immigrants.
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During his first term in 2019, Trump expanded the remit to include several other benefits as a “public charge”, making it harder for immigrants to receive a permanent status. However, former president Joe Biden’s administration revoked the rule in 2022. The new proposal would rescind the Biden administration’s protections, which may allow DHS to institute even broader standards that consider the use of public service programs as grounds for a public charge finding and increase the risk of arbitrary denials and raise the discretionary power of immigration officials.
