Trump’s Public Charge Rule: Are You Rich Enough For The US?

Donald Trump is back in office, which means that it is likely that the public charge rule will come back into effect. For those who don't remember, at the end of Donald Trump's first term, he created what was essentially a wealth test in order to get approved for a green card.

If you didn't meet certain qualifications, especially when it came to your income levels, your immigration application for benefits could get denied and now that Trump is back in office, there is a good chance that he is going to bring back the public charge rule. That's why it is important to understand how it works, because what you do today could affect whether or not you get approved for a green card in the future.

Okay, so what does every immigrant need to know about the public charge rule? The first thing to know is that Trump wants a merit-based immigration system. That means that he wants to choose immigrants based on their skills, finances, education levels, and job offers rather than their family connection.

He made this very clear while running for office, saying, "Republicans will prioritize merit-based immigration, ensuring those admitted to our country contribute positively to our society and economy and never become a drain on public resources." Basically, he sees anyone who uses public assistance as a drain on society even though most immigrants who come to the U.S. are working hard, contributing to the U.S. economy, and not even eligible for the majority of public benefits.

The next thing that you need to understand is how Trump's public charge rule is actually different from the previous one. The original public charge rule has been around since 1882 and was only used to deny immigration applications if your primary source of income was government assistance. That changed in 2019 when Trump made the rule significantly stricter.

Under his version, if you used public benefits for 12 months within the three-year period prior to your application, your application could get denied. Also, each benefit is counted separately. So if you use two public benefits in one month, this would count as two months worth of usage of public resources. This meant that the more benefits you used, the more help you got, the faster you could get disqualified from becoming a U.S. resident.

Trump's rule applied to programs such as Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, temporary assistance for needy families, also known as TANF, food stamps or SNAP, Section 8 housing, any federal public housing subsidies or rental assistance, and Medicaid for non-emergencies such as long-term care and nursing homes. But it didn't stop there. Trump's version didn't just look at whether or not you use public benefits.

In fact, you could still be disqualified as being a public charge if you never use benefits because they looked at many other factors as well. He used these factors to predict whether or not you could likely become at risk of needing public benefits in the future and in order to figure out whether you could be at risk of becoming a public charge, instead of just looking to see if you used public benefits in the past, he created a form called the I-944 Affidavit of Self-Sufficiency.

This form collected details such as your age and health, your family size, your English skills, your education and work history, your financial status, and your health insurance. Based on this info, they could then try to predict whether or not you would ever need public assistance in the future and if they felt that you were too old, had too many kids, couldn't speak English well, didn't have enough job skills, or didn't have enough money to support yourself, they could deny your application.

Some of the biggest negative factors that counted against you included:

• Not having a job or recent work history
• Using public benefits for 12 months or more during the past three-year period
• Having any medical conditions that require medical insurance

Meanwhile, the biggest positive factors that worked in your favor included:

• Having a high income or sufficient assets
• Earning more than 250% over the federal poverty guideline levels
• Having private health insurance

The reason why Trump's public charge rule was labeled a wealth test was because it didn't simply just look at your income levels to see what your current earnings are.

Prior to Trump's public charge rule, any immigrant would need to show that their sponsor earns at least 125% of the federal poverty guidelines in order to be able to show that they are not a public charge. For example, for a family of two, the federal poverty guidelines is $21,150 per year. 125% of that is $26,438.

So previously, before the Trump public charge rule, as long as your household made at least $26,438, your immigration application should pass.

However, underneath the new wealth test through Trump's public charge rule, you had to show a whole host of other factors, including whether you had a degree, whether you earned enough money, whether you had any physical problems that prevented you from working, and whether you had too many mouths to feed. Essentially, this amounts to a punishment against persons who do not meet the traditional definition of a wealthy family.

I'm going to put numbers for other household sizes on the screen for your reference, and I'll include a link to the federal poverty guidelines for your convenience.

The next thing that you need to know is who the public charge rule applied to.

Trump's public charge rule essentially targets certain types of immigrants, including:

• Anyone applying for a family-based or employment-based green card
• Anyone applying for a visa to enter the United States
• Anyone looking to extend their stay or change their visa status

But there were many people that this did not apply to, including:

• U.S. Citizens
• Most green card holders
• Refugees or people seeking asylum
• Victims of crimes or abuse
• Applicants under VAWA, T and U Visa programs
• DACA holders
• TPS
• Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
• Active duty U.S. military members
• Pregnant women
• Children

Green card holders could only lose their status underneath the public charge rule if they were already relying on benefits before getting their green card approved. For example, if you didn't already have a job when getting your green card and later started to use public benefits such as SNAP or TANF, Trump's public charge rule could be used to take your green card away. But if you had a job when you got your green card and later became unemployed and started using benefits, your status wouldn't be affected.

However, even though this rule did not apply to everyone, many immigrants stopped using public benefits out of fear. Some even stopped using benefits that weren't even covered underneath this rule. So before you stop using any benefits that you need, make sure to check these two things.

First, does the public charge rule actually apply to you?

Second, are the benefits that you're using covered underneath this rule, and can they possibly hurt your case?

I'll share a helpful guide here that may help you figure out what applies and what doesn't. Also, keep in mind that the Trump administration has not announced that they will bring this rule back, so there's always a chance that they will not do so. So you have to decide for yourself whether it is worth the risk in taking public benefits if you are yet to receive a green card.

If Trump does bring this rule back, remember that the lookback period was three years underneath the first version of this rule. That means that what you use today can count against you if you're applying for a green card over the next three years. But again, I would urge you to not stop using public benefits if you do need them. Your health, safety, and family should come first.

For reference, here is a list of the benefits the Trump administration included underneath the public charge rule during his first term:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF)
• Food Stamps (SNAP)
• Section 8 Housing
• Housing Subsidies or Rental Assistance
• Medicaid (Non-Emergency)

If the benefits that you are receiving are not on this list, there's a good chance that they may not be counted against you in the future. So what do you think? Will we see Trump's public charge rule make a comeback?

If you want to hear more on policies that may make a comeback underneath Trump, watch my other video, Trump's New USCIS Policies, Prepare for These Major Changes Now. In it, I'll explain some of the worst policies underneath the Trump administration that are likely to make a comeback. Click to watch next and I'll see you there.