Proposed Public Charge Rule Would Significantly Reduce Legal Admissions and Adjustment to Lawful Permanent Resident Status of Working Class Persons

A proposed rule issued by the Department of Homeland Security in October 2018 would broaden the ability of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers to determine that a beneficiary is inadmissible to be granted a visa, adjust status or apply for Lawful Permanent Residence (LPR) based upon the perceived risk that the individual could become a “public charge,” i.e. financially dependent upon the federal or state government for assistance. Proposed Public Charge Rule Would Significantly Reduce Legal Admissions and Adjustment to Lawful Permanent Resident Status of Working Class Persons analyzes the implications this proposed rule could have on the immigration system and discusses the impact on two populations of immigrants that would be most affected by the change in adjudication procedure: undocumented immigrants and otherwise LPR-eligible nonimmigrants. Under the proposed guidelines, the government would consider “all the factors bearing on the intending immigrant’s ability or potential ability to be self-sufficient” -- a much broader standard than the one currently in use. The new factors would include lack of current employment or history of unemployment, lack of access to private health care, and receipt of one or more public benefits. The authors argue that the proposed DHS rule would place an undue burden on lower-income immigrants, restrict the entry of individuals within family-based categories, and have negative ripple effects on millions of other people both in the U.S. and in sending countries. The article concludes by estimating the number of individuals who could be affected by the proposed rule and providing educational, economic and employment profiles of those individuals. (Mia Fasano for The Immigrant Learning Center's Public Education Institute)

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