Trump Administration Seeks To Thwart Immigrants Who May Use Public Assistance Programs

The Associated Press: New Rules To Deny Green Cards To Many Legal Immigrants
The Trump administration announced Monday it is moving forward with one of its most aggressive steps yet to restrict legal immigration: Denying green cards to many migrants who use Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers or other forms of public assistance. Federal law already requires those seeking to become permanent residents or gain legal status to prove they will not be a burden to the U.S. — a “public charge,” in government speak —but the new rules detail a broader range of programs that could disqualify them. (Long and Colvin, 8/12)

The Washington Post: Trump Officials Move To Deny Green Cards, Path To Citizenship For Poor Immigrants
The 837-page rule, whose length [Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] compared to “War and Peace,” focuses on the obscure definition of what it means to be a “public charge,” or someone dependent on U.S. government benefits, and who is likely to become one. (Hauslohner, Miroff, Sacchetti and Jan, 8/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration To Deny Green Cards To Legal Immigrants Who Draw From Social Programs
The use or potential use of a benefits program such as Medicaid, some types of housing assistance or food stamps could disqualify an applicant. ... The use of several other benefits—including school lunch programs, homeless shelters, food pantries and the Children’s Health Insurance Program—won’t disqualify applicants. Pregnant women and children who rely on Medicaid are also exempt from the rule. The rule doesn’t affect humanitarian-based programs for refugees and asylum seekers. (Restuccia and Radnofsky, 8/12)

The New York Times: Trump Policy Favors Wealthier Immigrants For Green Cards
Mr. Trump has long insisted that the United States should welcome immigrants based only on the “merit” they demonstrate. And he has disparaged the idea of letting immigrants into the United States from poor and underdeveloped nations, which he once described in the most vulgar of terms. Monday’s rule is an attempt to enact Mr. Trump’s priorities. It embraces people who have financial means while shunning immigrants who are struggling. (Shear and Sullivan, 8/12)

Bloomberg: Trump Rule Could Block Immigrants Who Use Government Aid 
The 837-page regulation -- known as a “public charge” rule -- likely will fall hardest on low-income legal immigrants who perform much of the country’s menial labor on farms and in the service industry. The rule replaces current policy that says immigrants shouldn’t receive more than half their income from cash benefits, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Supplemental Security Income from Social Security. (Sink and Ross, 8/12)

Los Angeles Times: New Trump Rules Could Deny Green Cards To Immigrants On Public Assistance
President Trump has kept his effort to crack down on illegal immigration in the spotlight and central to his reelection campaign in 2020. But the new rules represent a significant escalation of a quieter but farther-reaching effort to reduce legal immigration, with Cuccinelli and others led by immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller. (O'Toole and Nieto Del Rio, 8/12)

NPR: Trump Administration Rule Would Penalize Immigrants For Needing Benefits
A preliminary draft published last year drew more than 260,000 comments. Many of the comments expressed outrage that the administration would penalize immigrants for using benefits that they are legally entitled to receive. The change is seen as part of a broader administration effort to limit both immigration and the overall use of public benefits. Immigrant advocates immediately denounced the final rule, which they say could hurt millions of immigrants already living in the U.S. as well as their citizen children. They say it could also sharply curtail legal immigration, especially when coupled with tough new State Department standards that take the likelihood of an immigrant's use of public benefits into account when granting visas. (Fessler and Rose, 8/12)

PBS NewsHour: How U.S. Citizens’ Health Could Suffer Under Trump’s New Rule Aimed At Immigrants
Immigration advocates say this rule will stifle immigration into the country. And while the Trump administration says the rule is aimed at protecting benefits for American citizens, this rule appears to place young U.S. citizens — the children of immigrants — at risk. The PBS NewsHour asked immigration and health experts to describe what these changes will mean for immigrants and their families and their access to health care and nutrition. (Santhanam, 8/12)

CQ: New 'Public Charge' Rule Could Affect Millions Of Immigrants
A new Department of Homeland Security rule unveiled Monday seeks to do what pro-immigration advocates have been long been dreading: It gives U.S.  immigration officers broad authority to reject for citizenship, for green cards, for visa extensions and for changes in immigration status people who may have used one of a wide range of public benefits in the past, from food stamps to Medicaid or housing assistance, even if they were eligible for them. Furthermore, the government under the new rule can reject people if immigration officers deem it likely they could become reliant on such public assistance in the future. (Misra, 8/12)

Modern Healthcare: Legal Immigrants Using Medicaid Penalized Under New Trump Rule
[L]eaders of many healthcare organizations, including the American Hospital Association, America's Essential Hospitals, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics, warn that the rule will hurt public health efforts and reduce their ability to serve millions of low-income children and families. They point to evidence that fear created by the proposal already has shrunk participation in health programs. (Meyer, 8/12)

PoliticoPro: Trump Administration Finalizes Rule To Restrict Immigration Based On Use Of Public Benefits
Conservative groups such as the Heritage Foundation have touted the measure as a way to limit immigration to self-sufficient foreigners who won’t be a drain on public resources. The Republican Study Committee — a group that includes roughly three-quarters of House GOP lawmakers — praised the regulation as “a step in the right direction” in a budget proposal released in May. Still, the contentious policy is already triggering legal challenges, with one pro-immigrant group, the Los Angeles-based National Immigration Law Center, announcing this morning that it will file suit. (Hesson, 8/12)

Also in immigration news --

The Washington Post: A Glimpse Inside The Central Processing Center, At The Heart Of The Border Crisis 
“We want to give folks a sense of what is going on down here,” said Border Patrol agent Marcelino “Alex” Medina. Inside the cavernous pair of warehouses in Southwestern McAllen, migrants are medically screened for common ailments and contagious diseases such as scabies, lice or chickenpox. Those needing medical help beyond basic services are sent to local hospitals, agents said. Workers have access to face masks and gloves when entering one of two large containment areas, although the center is not immune from contagious diseases; the processing center had an outbreak of an influenza-like illness in late May that led Border Patrol to stop admitting people until the infections died down. Once medically cleared, migrants are sent into holding pens. The center has seen tens of thousands of children and families since 2014. (Hernandez, 8/12)