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New Delhi: Under a new rule sanctioned by the United States President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday, Green Card holders and temporary or permanent visa holders may face rejection on not meeting income standards.
Trump’s Senior Advisor Stephen Miller, after a long haul against immigrants – both legal and illegal – in the US, got approval for the much-anticipated rule, making it impossible for illegal migrants to enter States, and extremely difficult for legal migrants to survive there.
Under the new rule, the Department of Homeland Security will scrutinise immigrants on the basis of taxpayer-funded assistance like food stamps, health care, prescription drug subsidies, housing vouchers, and Medicaid. As a result, anyone who is unable to prove that they would not access government benefits in the future will be denied a Green Card.
The step has been taken to ensure that immigrants are self-sufficient and “do not depend on public resources to meet their needs, but rather rely on their own capabilities, as well as the resources of family members, sponsors, and private organizations,” as quoted by Reuters from a notice in the Federal Register.
The new rule is likely to impact Indians in the States regardless of whether they hold short-term visas such as H-1B and F-1 for students. With the public charge rule, immigrants will be rejected on the basis of ‘prospective criteria’ such as English proficiency, small family size, middle-class income and more.
The decision has been condemned by immigrant advocates who have expressed concerns over public health by preventing immigrants from using facilities that they or their children are entitled to.
On the other hand, other departments of the Trump administration are taking or contemplating similar approaches for penalising immigrants’ use of such services of public assistance.
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