Supporters of mass immigration often justify their position by assuring us that immigrants do not use welfare and are a net benefit to society, so we should welcome more of them.
But when the Trump administration proposes new regulations that would make it harder for immigrants who use welfare programs to obtain permanent residence, suddenly, it is the end of the world. Supporters of mass migration want to have it both ways, but we should not let them.
The Immigration and Nationality Act’s “public charge” rule is over 100 years old and was one of the first non-country-specific immigration restrictions written into federal law. It was modeled after state laws in Massachusetts and New York that forced ship captains to post bonds for immigrants whom state immigration officers determined were likely to end up in state-run pauper houses. At the height of the Irish famine, Massachusetts spent millions of taxpayer dollars supporting such immigrants, and local city and county governments spent millions more.
Today’s statute says any immigrant who is “likely at any time to become a public charge” is inadmissible to the United States. Those already in the country on a legal visa who wish to upgrade to a green card must also pass the public charge test.
The statute does not mention “welfare” programs as a criterion for being labeled a public charge, but it does list age, health, family status, assets, resources, financial status, education, and skills as factors. The 1996 welfare reform law added that “it continues to be the immigration policy of the United States that aliens within the nation’s borders not depend on public resources to meet their needs, but rather rely on their own capabilities and the resources of their families, their sponsors, and private organizations, and the availability of public benefits not constitute an incentive for immigration to the United States.”
Despite this wording, the Clinton administration created its “primarily dependent” test, under which cash benefits such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security Income could count toward a public charge finding, while food stamps, ordinary Medicaid, housing assistance, and most other noncash benefits generally could not. As a result of this “primarily dependent” loophole, millions of immigrants receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits today.
The new Trump regulation would close the loophole by allowing immigration officers to consider an applicant’s use of any means-tested welfare program, including Medicaid and food stamps, when deciding whether the applicant is likely to become a public charge.
According to 22 states and the District of Columbia that are challenging the rule, this would lead to Armageddon.
“Non-citizens will be faced with the impossible task of weighing their or their family members’ participation in supplemental state and federal programs against the negative impacts that such participation will have on their ability to obtain lawful permanent resident status,” the plaintiffs’ complaint reads.
That’s right, but that is a feature, not a bug, of the rule. The point is to reject migrants who would burden taxpayers.
“Plaintiff States will ultimately be forced to fill the breach, and staggering costs will follow on multiple fronts: Plaintiff States will lose federal funding due to disenrollment in state programs, and public agencies will face substantial administrative costs as they attempt to mitigate confusion and fear,” the complaint continues.
But if the welfare being consumed by non-self-sustaining immigrants is so “supplemental” and “temporary,” why would the removal of these benefits be catastrophic? Either these immigrants are dependent on these programs and can’t survive without them, or it shouldn’t bother them much if the benefits are denied. To repeat, Democrats can’t have it both ways.
SLOW DOWN THE RACE TO REGULATE AI
This publication is not anti-immigrant. Immigration of the right type is good for the country, and we should let in the best and brightest from around the world. But literally billions of people would come to the U.S. if allowed, and our housing, education system, and safety net would be overwhelmed if they did.
The common-sense solution is to allow in only immigrants who are self-sustaining. If someone is on Medicaid, food stamps, or in public housing, they clearly don’t pass that test. All the Trump administration rule does is translate common sense into policy.