DHS has drafted a notice of proposed rulemaking that would allow immigration officers to scrutinize a potential immigrant’s use of certain taxpayer-funded public benefits to determine if they could become a public burden. These taxpayer-funded public benefits include a broad array of local, state, and federal social services to which these families are legally entitled, including enrolling their U.S.-born children in Head Start or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
(a) Consideration of public benefits includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Supplemental Security Income (SSI), 42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.;
(2) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), 42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.;
(3) State or local cash benefit programs for income maintenance (often called
State “General Assistance,” but which may exist under other names);
(4) Any other federal public benefits for purposes of maintaining the applicant’s
income, such as public cash assistance for income maintenance;
(5) Certain Benefits under the Medicaid Program, 42 U.S.C. 1396 to 1396w-5;
(6) Government-provided subsidies for premium payments under the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. 111-148, 42 U.S.C. ~ 18001 ct ‘>eq .. or other
government subsidized medical insurance programs;
(7) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly called “Food
Stamps”), 7 U.S.C. 2011 to 2036c;
(8) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC), 42 U.S.C. 1786;
(9) State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (formerly called
“SCRIP”), 42 U.S.C. 1397aa to 1397mm;
(1 0) Transportation vouchers or other non-cash transportation services;
(11) Housing assistance under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq. or the Housing Choice Voucher Program (section 8),
U.S. Housing Act of 1937, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1437u, 24 CFR part 982;
(12) Energy benefits such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP), 42 U.S.C. 8621 to 8630;
(13) Institutionalization for both long-term and short-term care at government
expense;
(14) Certain educational benefits, including, but not limited to, benefits under the
Head Start Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq., and
(15) Any other Federal, State, or local public benefit program, except for those
benefits described in§ 212.24 of this chapter.
§212.24 Public benefits not considered for purposes of public charge
inadmissibility.
(a) Emergency or disaster relief Emergency and disaster reliefbenefits include,
but are not limited to:
(1) Any services provided under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), Pub. L. 93-288, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1521
et seq.;
(2) Short-term, non-cash, in-kind emergency disaster relief;
(3) Programs, services, or assistance (such as soup kitchens, crisis counseling and
intervention, and short-term shelter) provided by local communities or through public or
private nonprofit organizations;(4) Benefits under the Emergency Food Assistance Act, as amended, 7 U.S.C.
7501 to 7517; and
(5) Public health assistance for immunizations with respect to immunizable
diseases and for testing and treatment of symptoms of communicable diseases whether or
not such symptoms are caused by a communicable disease.
(b) Educational and Child Care Block Grants. Educational and Child Care Block
Grants include, but are not limited to:
(1) Attending public school;
(2) Benefits through school lunch or other supplemental nutrition programs;
(3) Benefits through the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended, 42 U.S.C.
1771 to 1793;
( 4) Benefits from the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 1751 to 1769j;
(5) Child care related services including the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Program (CCDBGP), 42 U.S.C. 9858 to 9858q.; and
(6) Foster care and adoption benefits.
