Sign on To PIF's Comment Letter on the State Department’s Public Charge Rule

Dear Allies,

We hope that you and your loved ones are staying healthy and safe and were able to enjoy ringing in a New Year. This week, we are sharing our comment letter on the Department of State's Public Charge rule, and encouraging partners to sign on. Continue reading for more critical information on the Department of State's (DOS) request for comments, as well as details on how to join PIF's comment letter. We encourage your organization to join us in recommending that DOS issue rulemaking as soon as possible to remove the 2019 rule and revert back to prior regulations.

We want to take a moment to recognize that today marks one year since the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol Building. We are thinking of our D.C. colleagues and those who have been profoundly impacted by the events of that day.

Sign On to PIF's Comment Letter

We encourage your organization to sign on to PIF’s comment letter on the U.S. Department of State’s 2019 public charge interim final rule. Sign on by filling out this form by 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT on Friday, January 14.

What: On November 17, 2021, the U.S. Department of State 2019 published a notice in the Federal Register that it is seeking comments on whether the DOS 2019 interim final rule (IFR) that adopted the DHS 2019 public charge rule should be rescinded or revised. PIF’s sign on comment strongly recommends that DOS issue rulemaking as soon as possible to remove the text of DOS’s October 2019 rule from the Code of Federal Regulations (“C.F.R.”); and restore the longstanding regulatory text that appeared prior to DOS’s October 2019 rule. We suggest this approach because: 1) the chilling effect of the 2019 Trump public charge policy persists and the current DOS policy landscape is confusing for immigrants and their family members; 2) the regulations prior to DOS’s October 2019 rule set out a clear and fair policy that worked well for decades; and 3) DOS’s October 2019 rule mirrors the discriminatory policy that was found unlawful and vacated by a federal court. The comment letter provides more details.
When: Sign ons are due at 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT on Friday, January 14. Note: Comments are officially due on Tuesday, January 18th 2022, but because January 17 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we want to close it out on Friday.
How: Fill in the sign on form and we will include your organization as a signatory of the letter. We are not accepting comments on behalf of individuals. However, individuals and organizations are welcome to submit their own comments to DOS on regulations.gov.

Many thanks to all the PIF policy/ legal working group members who helped us land on a strategy and reviewed the comment letter during the holiday season!

Please reach out to Sonya Schwartz, PIF consultant, at [email protected] with any questions.

NEW: Customizable Nutrition Flyers

Thanks to our partners at Nourish California and CLASP, we are excited to share a new flyer to support and promote immigrants' safe access to nutrition programs. The flyers are available for download in six languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Kreyol, and Wolof. We encourage organizations to download the files and add in local referral information directly into the document to best support their clients.

Join Us in Sharing Important Vaccine Information With Your Community!

In partnership with allies in California, with the generous support of The California Endowment, and in collaboration with film producer Variant Strategies, PIF has developed an animated video aimed at communicating that receiving the COVID-19 vaccination has no immigration consequences.

Available in 30-second, 60-second, and two-minute versions, these videos tell the story of Diana, a permanent resident who was concerned that getting the COVID vaccine could harm her citizenship application and affect her ability to sponsor her husband. In the video, Diana learns that getting the vaccine is a safe way to protect herself and her family and will not put future immigration applications at risk.

The video is available in 9 languages and in a variety of formats best for different social media platforms. Here is a link to the videos, and unbranded versions are available upon request (please email Isobel Mohyeddin at [email protected]). We welcome the opportunity to work with you to identify the best ways to reach immigrant families with this important educational resource. For more information about ways to disseminate this video, please contact Ed Walz at [email protected] or Alicia Wilson at [email protected].

In Solidarity,

Eddie Carmona, on behalf of the PIF Team

Visit us at https://protectingimmigrantfamilies.org/

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