UnidosUS Comments on Public Charge Ground of Inadmissiblity
DHS-Docket No. USCIS-2021-0013, UnidosUS submitted comments to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on the Advanced Notice of Public Rule Making Regarding (ANPRM) regarding the public charge ground of inadmissibility.
First, we document how the public charge test disproportionately impacts the Latino community and creates a barrier to full participation in the economy and community for many Latinos by causing fear of utilizing safety-net programs among immigrants and mixed-status families. Second, we encourage the administration to define public charge narrowly and clearly to prevent a public charge determination from being used as a tool to discriminate. This will also reduce the chilling effect where immigrant families avoid interacting with the government and forgo needed public benefits for which they are eligible as a consequence of fear and confusion.
