US immigrants using welfare benefits may be unable to get Green Card: NYT Report

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (APP):The Trump administration is working on a plan to make it difficult, if not impossible, for immigrants to get Green Card if they are using, or have used public benefits in the past 36 months, a report in the leading New York Times said on Monday.
There is no official word on the proposed rule and the report quoted leaked drafts of the rule
and unnamed officials who are familiar with the development. In the United States, benefits such as
using Medicaid or getting help to support children are all legal means.
The rationale behind the proposed rule is that anyone who is coming to the United States
should not be depended on government aid and should not be using American taxpayers’ money.
Those could be immediately impacted by the new rule include an estimated one million people who live
in New York city, officials estimate.
Those who are seen vulnerable to the new proposed rule include even those applications who use any welfare benefits, even for children who are United States citizens.
The NYT report said that the administration’s plan is based on the more than 100-year-old law called “public change” which was later defined by government guidance in 1999. Under the law, a
person who is likely to become dependent on government services cannot become a legal permanent resident.
“The rule also applies to visa applicants from abroad or people seeking to extend a temporary visa within the United States,” the report added.
Under the proposed plan, for now, only those people who are receiving cash benefits, such
as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or long-term institutional care are factors considered
when determining if a person is likely to become a “public charge.”
“The rule as it stands now excludes benefits such as immunizations and free or reduced-price school lunches. Unauthorized immigrants are already ineligible for nearly all public benefits.”
But, the proposed plan will include children’s health insurance; Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Plan (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps); Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC; tax credits for low- to moderate-income families; and housing and transit subsidies.
“Any applicant or any dependent” who has used such benefits in the past 36 months could
be ineligible.
The main purpose behind the purposed role, according to the report, is to discourage immigrants who would be burden on American taxpayers or take away benefits that could be used for citizens.
“More than half of all immigrant households use one or more public benefits, according to the administration, referencing a 2012 study from the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit research group that advocates restrictions on immigration” was quoted as saying by the report.