NILC Lawsuit, New Public Charge Research, We Need Your Help!
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*** CORRECTION: UPDATED ORGANIZATIONAL
QUESTION FORM ***
We have included an updated and corrected link to the Organizational Questions Form included at the bottom of this email. This form is intended for organizations to submit any questions on the DHS Public Charge rule that was published last week. We apologize for any inconvenience. |
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FINAL DHS PUBLIC CHARGE RULE IS PUBLISHED
In case you were on vacation last week and are still catching up, DHS’s final public charge rule has been officially published. The effective date is October 15, 2019. Thanks to all of our Active Members, partners and allies for all that you did last week to raise up your voices against this hateful rule. We still have lots of work to do, and are so grateful that you’re with us in this fight. |
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LAWSUITS FILED OPPOSING PUBLIC CHARGE
RULE CHANGE
Last Friday, the National Immigration Law Center, National Health Law Program, Western Center on Law & Poverty, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration to block the implementation of the DHS final rule, which threatens millions of immigrant families —disproportionately families of color. The suit, filed in the Northern District of California, was filed on behalf of nonprofits serving immigrant communities and advocates for racial equity, health, children, farmworkers, and working families today.
La Clínica de la Raza et al. v. Trump et al. filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, asks the court to declare the regulation issued by DHS unlawful and unconstitutional. In addition to La Clínica de la Raza, the suit was brought by African Communities Together, the California Primary Care Association, the Central American Resource Center, the Council on American Islamic Relations -California, Farmworker Justice, the Korean Resource Center, the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, and Maternal and Child Health Access.
This is one of at least four lawsuits that have already been filed to challenge the public charge rule. Plaintiffs include thirteen states led by Washington Attorney General Robert Ferguson, five states led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and the Counties of San Francisco and Santa Clara. We will keep you updated as hearings in these suits are scheduled.
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LAST WEEK’S WEBINAR & OTHER RESOURCES
We held an in-depth webinar last Wednesday and again on Friday where went over toplines of the final rule, shared how your organization can best respond, and shared top messaging and talking points. To view a recording of Wednesday’s webinar, click here. To view slides from the webinar, click here.
We have updated our core fact sheet about public charge and two of our most commonly requested community education documents to reflect the details of the DHS final rule. In addition, we are sharing our toolkit for State and Local Government Officials. Templates and translations of these materials will be available soon, along with new and updated resources.
- Updated Fact Sheet - This resources explains key elements of the new DHS finalized rule and the changes from previous public charge policy.
- Let’s Talk About Public Charge - This resource is designed to help immigrants, mixed-status families, and communities understand the core elements of public charge.
- Getting the Help You Need - This resource is designed for people that work directly with immigrant families to help them understand whether they are subject to public charge.
- Toolkit for State and Local Government Officials - This toolkit provides a one-stop shop of talking points, community-facing resources, mitigation tactics for state and local public officials that want to protect their consumers and constituents, and fight back alongside us. For our advocacy partners, this might be helpful for you as well!
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NEW RESEARCH ON EFFECTS OF
DHS PUBLIC CHARGE RULE
In the days following the DHS rule finalization, critical research has been published further documenting the harms of the public charge rule change. Research on the final rule and its effects has been made available from many organizations, including the Migration Policy Institute, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
Key findings include:
- Decreased participation in these programs would contribute to more uninsured individuals and negatively affect the health and financial stability of families and the growth and healthy development of their children. (Kaiser Foundation)
- When applied to immigrants who were granted legal permanent residence within the past 5 years, at least 69 percent had at least one negative factor. (MPI)
- By denying entry into or permission to remain in the U.S. to such a broad group of non-citizens, the rule also seems to discount entirely the contributions that immigrants’ children would have to the nation’s long-term strength, making the economic case for the rule even harder to support. (CBPP)
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WE NEED YOUR HELP!
- Join Our Tweetstorm for Public Charge -- Wednesday 8/21 at 2 pm ET (11 am PT). We’ll be sharing social media content, and you can also look for examples of posts at @NILC and @CLASP_DC on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will be sharing a digital toolkit related to access to public benefits in the next few days.
- Activate your members of Congress. - This action alert from APHIAF asks Members of Congress to cosponsor H.R.3222, the No Federal Funds for Public Charge Act of 2019 and speak out against this offensive policy. http://bit.ly/DefundPublicCharge. If your Member of Congress is holding a town hall or other event in district, you can ask them whether or not they will work to oppose public charge. Here’s a couple of questions you can ask them:
- Immigrants in our community are afraid to go to the doctor or sign up for food stamps because they worry that the Trump administration is going to deport them or deny their green cards. Will you stand against the public charge proposal that is driving that fear?
- The Trump administration is working to block immigrants who are poor, who have pre-existing conditions or who have big families from coming to our country because they may need assistance when they get here. Do you believe that aligns with the values of the United States and will you support a bill that works to stop this public charge rule from moving forward?
- Activate your state and local networks. Please gather your partners to think through how to mitigate and document the harm. See our new fact sheet for ideas, spearheaded by our State Policy Subcommittee!
If you have more specific questions regarding the public charge rule, please submit your questions in our FAQ Form. We’ll do our best to update our materials to incorporate your policy questions. If you are an individual with questions, please submit them here. Please know that we cannot answer questions about specific legal cases, but will try to direct you to available resources and partners in your area.
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We will update you all very soon!
Elizabeth Lower-Basch (Center for Law and Social Policy), and
Connie Choi (National Immigration Law Center), on behalf of the Co-chairs of the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign
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