The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) submitted a regulatory package on Monday that could tighten the inadmissibility criteria related to public charge, potentially increasing scrutiny of green card applicants’ use of government benefits, reports Baltimore Chronicle with reference to Newsweek. Filed with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on November 3, the proposal is currently listed on the federal regulatory review website as a proposed rule. The text of the proposed changes has not yet been released, so it remains unclear which specific measures USCIS intends to implement.
If the proposal advances to formal notice-and-comment rulemaking, it would represent a significant policy shift from the 2022 public-charge rule, which limited the scope of considered benefits mainly to cash assistance for income support and long-term institutional care, excluding most non-cash programs such as SNAP, routine Medicaid, housing vouchers, and WIC.
The public-charge ground of inadmissibility is part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allowing U.S. authorities to deny entry or status adjustments to individuals likely to become primarily dependent on government support. The Trump administration expanded the public charge definition in 2019 to include many non-cash benefits, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), most Medicaid services, and public housing. It also introduced a multi-factor framework evaluating age, health, education, income, and English proficiency as positive or negative indicators of future dependency. The rule faced multiple legal challenges, and parts of it were blocked by courts.
Earlier we wrote that U.S. Proposes Ending U.N. Sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
