Since the nation's earliest immigration laws, America has wrestled with the question of who belongs and on what terms — and this week, that tension surfaced again as more than 20 states and Washington, D.C., sued the Trump administration over a sweeping new public charge rule set to take effect Friday. The Department of Homeland Security's new guidance grants immigration officers broad, largely undefined discretion to deny visas and green cards to applicants who have used Medicaid, food assistance, or school meal programs — removing the specific definitions that even prior administrations had
20 States Sue to Block Trump's Expanded Public Charge Immigration Rule
Immigrant families may be separated from U.S. citizen spouses and parents; immigrants may forgo legally available healthcare, food assistance, and other benefits due to deportation fears.