Immigrants Are Fed Up With the "Heartless" Ways the Gov't Is Vilifying Them for Using Public Benefi

[babylonsister]

Cruelty just for the sake of being cruel.


Immigrants Are Fed Up With the “Heartless” Ways the Government Is Vilifying Them for Using Public Benefits
As the Trump administration works to expand the public charge rule, people have submitted more than 130,000 comments.
Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn
December 7, 2018 6:00 AM


As a Vietnamese refugee who came to the US with her family at the age of 5, Thu Quach understands firsthand how much of a lifeline food stamps and other government aid can be for new immigrants. “When we came to San Francisco, we had nothing,” she recalls. “We couldn’t even fill a suitcase.”

So as soon as she heard that the Trump administration wanted to expand the public charge rule—which penalizes certain immigrants if public benefits account for most of their income—Quach, the chief deputy of administration at California-based nonprofit Asian Health Services, knew she had to do something. Though refugees like her are exempt from the rule, Quach says that she believes everyone deserves a helping hand.

The public charge provision is not new, but the Trump administration’s proposal, which was first leaked back in February, would drastically expand the categories of benefits that would deem an immigrant a public charge. Under current law, certain immigrants who hope to enter the country or apply for green cards could be considered a “public charge” if they’ve ever used cash assistance or long-term medical care. That determination could negatively affect their application—and ultimately lead to a denial. The proposed rule change would expand those benefits to also include Medicaid, SNAP, public housing, and others that many immigrants rely on. It would also take into consideration a number of biographical factors, including an immigrant’s income, their credit score, English proficiency, and the number of children they have—criteria that immigration advocates say would effectively submit these individuals to a “wealth test.”

When the new rule was publicly posted to the federal register in October, it opened up a 60-day public comment period. Though comments may not ultimately determine the outcome of a proposed rule, they’re one of the few ways the public can directly weigh in on and potentially influence the final proposal.

“My entire life, including my professional and personal work, has been shaped by my immigrant experience. I know too well the hardships and heartache of those early resettlement years. I’ve watched my parents cry from worry about making ends meet,” Quach wrote in a comment she submitted on the rule. “Through initial investment that this country made on our family, I was able to attend UC Berkeley, and eventually went on to get my Masters in Public Health at UCLA, and my PhD at UC Berkeley. But I never forgot what this country offered me, and was eager to give back.”

“The proposed public charge rule change hits us right in the gut,” she continued. “I urge you to withdraw the public charge rule… Immigrants have more than paid back what has been given to us plus multi-fold more. We are tired of being a target of this Administration.”

The public charge proposal has so far drawn more than 130,000 comments—many of them revealing alarmed and frustrated outcry, like the one from Quach. And the huge volume of comments isn’t a coincidence: They’re the result of a coordinated effort from a coalition of more than 200 immigration advocacy groups, including Quach’s, that have educated immigrant communities about the changes. Working under the Protecting Immigrant Families (PIF) campaign, the organizations have held hundreds of workshops with community leaders and advised them on how to submit substantive comments. Comments have poured in from public officials, doctors, faith leaders, and many immigrants themselves.

“We didn’t know if it was possible at the beginning, but the extraordinary outpouring and the breadth [of the comments] really suggests that we were right to think this is hugely important to many people,” says Olivia Golden, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy, one of the organizations leading the campaign. “This isn’t a narrow issue affecting a few people, it affects all of us.”

more...

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/12/trump-public-charge-rule-comment-period-ending/

[sinkingfeeling]

1. I just sent my comment yesterday.