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US lawmakers condemn Trump plan targeting Caribbean immigrant families
(CMC) – Immigration leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives in the United States have condemned President Donald Trump’s proposed rule that would punish Caribbean and other immigrant families for lawfully accessing health care and food assistance, among other benefits.
The legislative leaders submitted a formal regulatory comment to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opposing the Trump administration’s proposed “Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility” rule, warning that the proposal unlawfully rewrites longstanding immigration law and would deter Caribbean and other immigrant families from accessing basic health, nutrition, and housing assistance they are legally entitled to receive.
Congressman Jamie Raskin
The comment was submitted by Congressman Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee; Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement; Congressman Robert Scott, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce; Senator Dick Durbin, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Senator Alex Padilla, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration; and Senators Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden.
The lawmakers said the proposed rule would circumvent the US Congress to alter the meaning of “public charge, a term that for more than 135 years has applied only to individuals who are primarily dependent on the government for subsistence.”
They warned that if an immigrant is determined likely to become a public charge, it can affect their eligibility to enter the United States.
“The Trump administration’s proposal would penalise immigrants for using supplemental benefits like health care, nutrition, or housing assistance that Congress deliberately made available to immigrant populations to support working families,” the legislators wrote.
“DHS is seeking to circumvent Congress by administratively altering the 135-year-old meaning of the term ‘public charge’ in violation of congressional intent,” they added. “Congress has deliberately rejected the very changes that DHS now seeks to implement administratively in complete defiance of our will and intent.”
The members noted that the US Congress has repeatedly revisited immigration law without ever redefining “public charge” to include the use of non-cash benefits.
They argued that federal agencies have long recognised that programs such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and housing assistance are supplemental benefits that promote public health, food security, and housing stability to help working families remain self-sufficient.
“DHS’s proposal would ignite widespread fear and confusion in immigrant communities, leading families to forgo medical care, nutrition assistance, and housing support even when they qualify under federal law,” the lawmakers said.
“DHS itself expressly concedes in the proposed rule that the policy could lead to worse health outcomes, increased poverty, housing instability, and greater use of emergency rooms for basic care—harms that would extend well beyond immigrant households to communities nationwide,” they added.
The leaders said Congress has “consistently made decisions about immigrants’ access to public benefits through eligibility rules, not by barring people from adjusting their immigration status for using those benefits.”
They said that recent legislation, including the 2025 reconciliation law, “deliberately preserved access to key programs for certain immigrant populations.”
For these reasons, the members urged the Trump administration to “abandon the rule and maintain the 2022 regulations that reflect congressional intent, protect public health, and ensure that families are not punished for using lawful, life-sustaining assistance.”
Several New York City agencies have also condemned the proposed rule.
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