NYC immigrants may avoid using government-funded benefits due to new Trump administration rule

New York City Immigration advocates are denouncing a new Trump administration policy that would allow officials to consider someone's use of public benefits when making decisions about their citizenship.

Immigrants living in New York City using Medicaid, housing vouchers and SNAP, might soon have to choose between receiving their green cards and public benefits.

"We need to be very clear. The new rule will lead to devastating effects on health and economic stability on our communities and on our neighbors," said Randy Ali, executive director of the Arab American Family Support Center.

A coalition of New York City non-profits helping immigrant families gathered Monday in Midtown to condemn the Trump administration's revival of what's called "public charge."

"It brings another layer of pain and confusion," said Javier Ramirez Baron, executive director of Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC.

Under the revived policy, applicants for green cards would have to show they would not be burdens to the country, causing "public charges."

The rule was first implemented in February of 2020 as one of President Donald Trump's first moves to limit legal immigration during his first administration.

It was reversed after Democratic President Joe Biden took office.

The reversal will target legal immigrants and mixed-status families, where the parents are foreign nationals with U.S.-born children.

"Without these lifelines, we will see a rise in emergency care, reports of underfed and hungry school children, more families entering the shelter system, and so many more preventable harms," said Carlos Arnao, director of Healthy Communities and the New York Immigration Coalition.

The Department of Homeland Security took to X, posting, "Under President Trump, DHS is restoring the basic principle that immigrants must be able to support themselves. We are reaffirming the requirement of self-reliance, protecting public resources, and ending policies that encouraged dependency on hardworking American taxpayers."

"The immigrant communities of New York are an economic powerhouse for this city and our country," said Rosy Mota, director of health policy for Latino Commission on Aids. "We are here after the World Cup, and we have seen how our economies benefit from immigrants."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were nearly 23 million noncitizens living in the country in 2023.

Critics say the policy broadens the grounds for disqualification, and that the new rule does not describe or specify by name the benefits and programs that could be considered a public charge.

Instead, it says federally assigned officers would use their own judgement to determine if the immigrant is wrongfully using public resources and should be denied their green card.

"This new case-by-case determination will introduce personal biases into the decision-making process that so many of our families will have to navigate," Arnao said.

The public charge policy is expected to take effect in just under two months on September 18.