During the COVID-19 pandemic, with shelter-in-place orders and social distancing protocols, it has become more difficult to reach the immigrant community to share information about immigration policies and access to resources. At the same time, given the economic devastation of COVID-19 for many immigrant families, it has never been more important to talk about what supportive services immigrants can obtain and how accessing services may or may not impact immigration legal opportunities in the United States.

In this community-focused presentation, we explain what public charge is and who it applies to, and how the public charge test works. We also describe federal, state, and local emergency response programs available to immigrant families who are experiencing financial hardship because of COVID-19, as of the end of May 2020.