October 10, 2019

Dear John,

Without fanfare, the Trump administration last week issued a presidential proclamation that could have as significant an impact on reshaping future legal immigration to the United States as the sweeping public-charge regulation finalized earlier this year.

The proclamation decrees that, effective November 3, new immigrants be denied entry to the United States unless they prove they can obtain eligible health insurance within 30 days of arrival or will have sufficient resources to pay for foreseeable medical costs.

Colleagues at the Migration Policy Institute, in a new commentary out today, estimate the policy has the potential to block fully two-thirds of those who apply for legal permanent residence from abroad, or approximately 375,000 intending immigrants each year.

“With the Trump administration pressing to curtail the family-based immigration that has long been a cornerstone of the U.S. immigration system, the new proclamation could in some ways help achieve the changes the White House is seeking without needing action by Congress,” Julia Gelatt and Mark Greenberg write.

You can read the commentary here: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/health-insurance-test-green-card-applicants-could-sharply-cut-future-us-legal-immigration.

Thank you for your interest in our work,

Michelle Mittelstadt
Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Migration Policy Institute