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Heartless Public Benefit Regulation Hurts Immigrants and All of Us
Posted on Aug 12 2019
August 12, 2019—The new public charge rule, now set to be published on August 14 and to go into effect 60 days later, will harm residents, communities and economies in every state in the country. As immigrants and their families give up needed health care, food, and affordable housing, their health, well-being and economic stability are threatened. This will be felt not just by immigrants and their families, but also by all members of our communities.
NOTE: For further information and links to resources from many organizations, see ILCM’s Public Charge/Public Benefits page.
Immigrants and their U.S. citizen family members are already giving up access to public benefits that they are entitled to under law. The “chilling effect” of the rule began before it was even official, with immigrant families refusing public benefits to which family members were legally entitled. One in seven adults in immigrant families reported forgoing public benefits in 2018 because of fear of the public charge rule. Among low-income families, this chilling effect is even stronger, affecting one adult in five.
“The public charge rule is one more example of the heartless and hateful anti-immigrant policies promulgated by this administration,” said Lenore Millibergity, acting executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. “Immigrants are less likely to use public benefit programs, using 39 percent fewer welfare and entitlements benefits per person than native-born Americans.
“The way to strengthen our country is to strengthen the families who live here. Today, one child in four has at least one immigrant parent. The administration’s bullying tactics, its use of fear and intimidation as a substitute for actual policy, does harm to these children and families and to the entire country.”
NOTE: For further information and links to resources from many organizations, see ILCM’s Public Charge/Public Benefits page.