Preview

Menu

Hispanic Federation Comments on Proposed "Public Charge" Rule Change

On Dec. 10, 2018, Hispanic Federation joined hundreds of thousands of people and organizations in submitting public comments in opposition to the proposed rule change. Click here to read and download the comments we delivered to the federal government.

Since the beginning of this year, we have seen our communities negatively affected by misinformation surrounding the Trump administration’s proposed public charge rule. On October 10, 2018, the Trump administration published its long-feared proposal in the federal register. As rumors of changes to the rule spread, we saw families begin to voluntarily pull back from programs that provide assistance in accessing health care, food, and housing. U.S. immigration policy has long allowed government officials to deny visas or permanent residency to immigrants who they project will become dependent on the state - or a "public charge.” Under the proposed changes to this rule, immigrants who legally access a number of social services that support hard-working, low-income immigrant families, could now also be denied a green card or refused admission to the United States. These changes are directly aimed at low-income, non-English speaking immigrants and are intended to make it harder for low income immigrants to be reunited with their family members and block their path to residency.