Immigrants using food stamps or Medicaid can now be denied green cards

Immigrants applying to live permanently in the United States can be rejected if they receive public benefits, beginning this week.

Use of Medicaid, food stamps, tuition assistance and free school lunch programs, among other government assistance, could all be grounds for denying a green-card application.

The policy from President Donald Trump's administration, which took effect Friday, marks a dramatic change to a long-standing federal policy consistent with the president's efforts to restrict legal immigration pathways.

The rule could reduce federal and state payments by $13 billion a year, by persuading some 950,000 people to disenroll from or avoid federal safety net programs, according to estimates from the Department of Homeland Security. The agency said that the rule aligns with Congress's intent that noncitizens "in the United States be self-sufficient and not dependent on taxpayer-funded government benefits."

"Aliens in the United States should be self-reliant," a DHS policy document for the rule states, "and government benefits should not incentivize immigration."

Applying for a green card, or legal permanent residency, is a necessary step for those seeking U.S. citizenship.

This week, New York led 21 other states, the District of Columbia and several cities in suing the Trump administration over the new rule. The lawsuit argued that the rule fails "to consider many important aspects" of the problems it creates and warned that the harms will extend to mixed-status families and U.S. citizen children.

"Cruelty is the point," New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit this week. "Having a chilling effect on immigrants is the point. Letting individuals know that they are not welcome here is the point."

The rule allows immigration officers to use their judgment in considering whether use of benefits such as food stamps indicates that a person is "likely at any time to become a public charge," or dependent on government assistance. Critics warn that an absence of clear guidance on which benefits will be considered in a green-card application will led to inconsistent application and a broader chilling effect.

"The lack of specificity makes it really hard for any family to know what [government-provided benefit] is safe to use," said Julia Gelatt, an associate director at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

The Department of Homeland Security rule expands the "public charge" policy in place since 1882. Immigration officers have long factored in a person's health, finances and skills in determining whether they are likely to rely on government assistance in the future. But only direct cash payments, such as disability income, and long-term hospitalization, previously were considered reasons for denying a green-card application.

The new rule applies to immediate family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, including children and spouses, fiancés of U.S. citizens, skilled and religious workers, and others.

Other types of immigrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, will not be subject to the rule.

The first Trump administration introduced a similar rule in 2019 that was later blocked by courts. But the policy spread fear and confusion among immigrant households, leading to a sharp drop in people living in households where someone lacked a green card enrolling in noncash federal assistance programs, such as food stamps, according to an Urban Institute report.