The United States government is reviving a rule that could deny permanent residency to immigrants who use public benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid, according to Antigua News Room, which cited a Thursday announcement by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Trump administration, which has made cracking down on illegal immigration a central policy priority, maintains that individuals seeking green cards should not be "public charges" — a term referring to those primarily dependent on government assistance.
The change, announced through an official DHS post, is set to take effect on September 18 of this year.
The original rule was first adopted in 2019 during Trump's first term and significantly expanded the definition of a public charge to include any immigrant who received a government benefit for more than 12 months within any three-year period.
That broader definition was abandoned in 2022 under the Biden administration, which narrowed the criteria under which a green card could be denied to immigrants on public-charge grounds.
In a post on X, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stated that the revived rule reinforces the principle "that aliens in the United States be self-reliant and not dependent on taxpayer-funded government benefits."
The original rule drew sharp criticism from immigrant advocacy groups, who argued it unfairly targeted low-income individuals and would prevent many people from obtaining permanent residency.
