August 14, 2019
Today, the Trump administration published the Department of Homeland Security’s full “public charge” rule – which is basically a racially-motivated wealth test that unfairly punishes families who are on the path to obtaining a green card. We join our colleagues at legal services and civil rights organizations across the country in protesting the administration’s rule change that endangers immigrant families’ ability to become citizens simply because they access basic health and housing programs.
Earlier this month, the Office of Management and Budget completed their review of the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed rule, including the required review of the tens of thousands of public comments from Americans coast-to-coast imploring this Administration to reconsider the proposed rule change.
The Administration is now pushing ahead in complete disregard of the comments received. The new regulation goes into effect on October 15, 2019 and will negatively impact thousands of families across California by either rendering them ineligible to change their immigration status or pressuring families to disenroll from crucial safety net programs. The legal aid community, including OneJustice, strongly opposed these proposed rule changes when they were first announced, and that fight will continue now that they are finalized.
Our bottom line is this: no one should have to choose between their health and their families.
Our message to immigrant communities is clear: we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you.
We salute our colleagues at immigrant legal services and advocacy organizations across the country for their advocacy work in opposition to this rule change, and we uplift their substantive comments and explanations of the impact of the rule change here:
- National Immigrant Law Center
- Immigration Legal Resource Center
- California Immigrant Policy Center
- Protecting Immigrant Families
For more legal resources, please access the One California provider network at: bit.ly/immigrationhelp
For information about the rule, please access National Protecting Immigrant Families (PIF).