National Housing Law Project Urges Dhs To Withdraw Harmful Public Charge Proposal And Protect Immigrants

DHS’s Proposal Will Take Away Life-Saving Food, Health Care, and Housing Assistance from Immigrant Families and Provide Grounds for Discrimination

WASHINGTON D.C.—The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) recently urged Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to withdraw a harmful proposal and protect immigrants. DHS plans to rescind the 2022 “public charge” rule, which protects lawfully present immigrants applying for green cards from unnecessary scrutiny and speculation during their application process. If the 2022 “public charge” rule is withdrawn, DHS could more easily reject immigrants’ green card applications due to the applicants’ use of health or social services programs.

In a comment, NHLP urged DHS to withdraw its proposal for a number of reasons. For example, DHS’s policy directive could be used to discriminate against immigrant families. It could also cause a chilling effect by deterring families from accessing the services they need and legally qualify for out of fear of negative immigration consequences. Instead, NHLP recommended that DHS advance policies that strengthen the ability of immigrants to support themselves and their families.

“As drafted, the rule departs from longstanding immigration policy where use of critical, life-sustaining housing and homelessness programs is not counted against immigrants and their families. The United States is currently mired in an affordable housing crisis, and the public charge rule, which will curtail families’ access to essential housing benefits, will exacerbate this crisis, which is only expected to grow in coming years,” National Housing Law Project wrote in a comment to DHS.

DHS’s own economic impact analysis predicts that, as a result of this proposal’s passage, hundreds of thousands of people would disenroll or forgo enrollment in life-saving food, health care, and housing programs. This effort is part of the Trump administration’s attempts to scapegoat immigrants for issues such as the housing crisis and spread fear amongst lawfully present immigrants, immigrant families with mixed immigration status, and the communities that welcome them.

Read the full comment here.