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The public charge regulations went into effect in the U.S. and at consular offices abroad last week. This rule is meant to reduce the number of immigrants who use social benefit programs. This means that individuals with I/DD, 21+ years old, who would possibly rely on Medicaid funded services – such as regional center services, SSI/SSP, housing assistance, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – will have an added roadblock to receive a green card or visa. As a movement of people with I/DD and their families committed to eliminating roadblocks for our community, The Arc finds solidarity with all of our brothers and sisters worldwide and has actively opposed this new rule.
As we wrote in a previous blog post, “this rule… has an additional and equally concerning threat: legal immigrant families in California reducing their use of these critical supports and services because they are concerned the rule applies to them. At this point we must fight this “chilling effect” and use our advocacy efforts to bring information and truth to our friends, families, neighbors, and clients that could perceive this threat.”
In this past story we updated the first with more resources. Since its publication even more resources have become available.
From the National Immigration Law Center this report looks at the harm caused by the rule – Documenting through Service Provider Accounts Harm Caused by the Department of Homeland Security’s Public Charge Rule.
From Protecting Immigrant Families, this teach in toolkit contains information to educate your community, partners, and to be prepared as the rule takes effect.