The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the Trump Administration can deny residency and a pathway to citizenship to migrants who depend on welfare benefits.
In a nutshell, the new policy means that America no longer signs a blank check to people who want to come here from the rest of the world.
The court ruled 5-4 to grant a stay on a nationwide injunction which prevented the Trump administration from using the “Public Charge” policy to vet people seeking residency and citizenship in the U.S. The Trump policy was blocked by federal appeals court judges with national injunctions in New York, San Francisco, and Richmond, Virginia.
With the order on Monday, the highest Court blew up that stay and may re-visit the proliferation of nationwide injunctions by lower courts.
The Associated Press reported that under the rules “a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer reviewing an application will look at the person’s history of access to public programs such as food stamps, many forms of Medicaid, public housing assistance, welfare cash payments and Supplemental Security Income benefits.”
The Washington Times reports that participating in programs such as emergency medical care, school lunch programs, and children’s health insurance programs would not count against a migrant seeking citizenship or residency.
The “Public Charge” policy wouldn’t affect refugees or asylum seekers.
The “Public Charge” policy is not unusual. Our family welcomed a new family member from Mexico. We had to show that he would not become a “public charge.” It happens all the time, but you would never have known it from the crazed reaction of the Left.
Senator Ed Markey took a break from impeaching the president to hyperventilate about the decision:
We must never become a country which turns away the sick, the hungry, the poor, and all those yearning to breathe free. This 5-4 decision is a disgrace and empowers President Trump in his racist mission to erase immigrants from the United States. #SCOTUS https://t.co/iK0Rz5tazv
— Ed Markey (@EdMarkey) January 27, 2020
This Playboy writer thinks the Statue of Liberty poem, added later, is part of the Constitution or something:
The Supreme Court just basically canceled the Statue of Liberty today with their 5-4 ruling to allow the Trump administration to continue with income-based restrictions. pic.twitter.com/KZ4JHNCNKz
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) January 27, 2020
And, of course, the group called the National Immigration Law Center said making sure people aren’t a drain on the system is just downright racism:
BREAKING: The Supreme Court today lifted the block on Trump administration’s public charge regulation, allowing Trump’s racially motivated wealth test to go into effect. Here’s what this means: [READ AND SHARE] ↓ https://t.co/HDpKgnbpqq 1/
— National Immigration Law Center (@NILC) January 27, 2020
The New York Times labeled it as a “wealth test”:
2020 and the #SCOTUS is taking steps to make the Old/New Poor Law new again https://t.co/vH8oWlCMIv
— Rebecca L. Spang (@RebeccaSpang) January 27, 2020
Some folks thought that making people pay for themselves makes sense:
VICTORY: The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the @realDonaldTrump admin. can
deny green cards to people needing gov’t assistance.
This is common sense. #SCOTUS
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) January 27, 2020
This woman has lived it:
I was born in the United States and adopted children from overseas. I had to sign a document confirming I would not be on welfare after I adopted them. Why should the rules be different for those who come here illegally?
— June Smith (@JuneSmith888) January 27, 2020
This man knows all about sponsorship:
The form is called I-864 or I-864A(for joint sponsor)
— Samuel Hall (@59332b92ba104b2) January 27, 2020
Many countries in the rest of the world do the same thing:
This is the exact policies for permanent immigration in Scandinavian nations … must have a sponsor, must know the language, must have a profession/degree, must be financially independent.
— LisaL (@Lisa_Leary) January 27, 2020
California Healthline reports that immigrants make up few of the welfare program recipients:
They make up 6.5% of Medicaid enrollees, for example, and 8.8% of food aid recipients, according to an analysis of census data by the Associated Press.
Healthline reports that the policy allows the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether any of the 544,000 annual green card seekers are likely “at any time” to be dependent on welfare programs.
“The rule defines a “public charge” as a noncitizen who receives one or more of the benefits for more than 12 months within any 36-month period. Receipt of two different benefits in a given month would count as two months. In cases where a green card or visa applicant had not exceeded this benefit threshold, officers of the Department of Homeland Security would seek to determine whether they were “likely at any time” to do so. In reaching a decision, they would weigh the applicant’s age, health, financial status, education and employment history.”
Of the 544,000 people who apply for residency – green cards – every year, 382,000 of them would be in the categories subject to the new review, according to the AP.
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