On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration once again. The United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated a rule last August to create self-sufficiency among immigrants. This rule strengthens the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) ability to deny an immigrant access to the United States if the perception is that there is an immediate need for public assistance. Even during an immigration status change, a person must show that he or she has not relied on public benefits during his or her stay.
The Center for Immigration Studies released a report last year showing the damaging numbers of non-citizens on welfare. In 2017, 45 percent of households headed by post-1990 immigrants or their adult children used one or more major public assistant benefits. Their chances of poverty ended up being 50-60 percent higher than that of citizens.
While the left brands this rule as a “wealth test”, it still makes exceptions for those who are most vulnerable. This includes asylees and refugees. Even with this compromise, the rule was challenged by immigrant rights groups shortly after release and was tied up in lower courts until this week. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 with some saying that this ruling separated the conservative and liberal judges. Actually, this so-called “public charge” idea has been a longstanding part of U.S. history but was never formally put into law. This is not a partisan issue, but an issue that takes strides to protect our nation’s economy.
USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli stated, “The principle driving it is an old American value, and that’s self-sufficiency. It’s a core principle — the American Dream itself — and it’s one of the things that distinguish us, and it’s central to the legal history in the U.S. back into the 1800s.”
Eagle Forum applauds the Trump administration’s efforts to protect American families by enforcing commonsense policies that put our nation first.
