The National Housing Law Project condemns the Trump Administration’s attempt to punish legal immigrants and their families for accessing critical, lifesaving benefits.
On October 10, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officially published a proposed rule that would make it easier for certain immigrants to be considered a “public charge” and, therefore denied admission into the country and denied green cards because they access food, nutrition, and housing programs. The rule would drastically change immigration policy by expanding the types of benefits that DHS would consider in a public charge determination to include benefits such as Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), public housing, and Section 8 housing subsidies. Previously leaked drafts of this policy change have already led many families to drop out of critical food and nutrition programs for their children, and this chilling effect is poised to impact hundreds of thousands of hardworking immigrant households that depend on these programs for survival.
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NHLP submitted comments opposing the proposed public charge rule. View NHLP’s comments here. The National Housing Law Project, along with over 300 organizations nationwide, partnered with the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign to help lead the charge against this disastrous proposed rule during the public comment period, which closed December 10, 2018. We’re happy to report that over 216,000 comments were submitted, the vast majority of which oppose the public charge rule. To learn more about the rule and what you can do:
- Check out our short FAQs outlining the basics of the proposed public charge rule’s impact on families seeking and using federal housing subsidies.
- See our revised “Technical” Fact Sheet (for a more in-depth dive into the rule).
- Use our Public Charge and Housing Talking Points.
- View our Public Charge Webinar.
- View NHLP’s comments opposing the proposed rule.