Trump 'Public Charge' Rule Could Harm Thousands Of NYC Immigrants

NEW YORK — A proposed Trump administration rule that would make it harder for immigrants who use public benefits such as food stamps to get green cards could harm as many as 475,000 New York City immigrants, city officials said Thursday.

City officials pledged to fight the proposal, which they say would also put at least a $420 million dent in the city's economy each year from lost economic activity and federal funding.

"President Trump’s talking out both sides of his mouth," said Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat. "He has a very negative attitude towards people who came here without documentation, but here you’re talking about people who play by the rules, are following the pathway to citizenship that all of our forebearers did, and he wants to penalize them."

Many immigrants seeking green cards or visas are required to show they aren't likely to become a "public charge" who relies on government money to get by. Trump's Department of Homeland Security wants to broadly define that term so it has great latitude to deny green card or visa applications based on whether a person gets public benefits and other criteria, such as age, health and the size of their family.

The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, would force 75,000 immigrant New Yorkers to choose between accessing benefits to which they're legally entitled and pusuring permanent residency in the U.S., according to an analysis the de Blasio administration released Thursday.

Another 400,000 immigrants who aren't even eligible for benefits could be turned down for green cards or visas just becuase of their age, health, income, employment history and other factors, the analysis found.

The proposed rule would impact certain immigrants who use benefits from a range of programs, including Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and SNAP, or food stamps. Federal law exempts certain groups of immigrants, including refugees and asylum-seekers, from the public charge rule.

The Department of Homeland Security argues its proposed definition of "public charge" is consistent with the federal government's intent for immigrants to be self-sufficient. But the de Blasio administration worries that confusion and fear about the rule could lead hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers — including U.S. citizens — to pull out of benefit programs or choose not to use them.

The city would lose $235 million in funding for SNAP and other programs if just 20 percent of its roughly 274,000 noncitzens withdrew from them, the administration's analysis found. Such a benefits exodus would also cause a loss of $185 million in related economic activity, the mayor's office said.

The rule change could also put a strain on the city's public hospitals, as they could see an increase in uninsured patients as well as sicker patients, de Blasio's administration said.

"I’ve never met a doctor — Democrat or Republican — who cared about the immigration status of their patient," Dr. Mitchell Katz, the president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, said in a statement. "We’ve taken an oath to care for the sick and can’t imagine the devastating impact this mean-spirited proposal could have if our patients end up having to choose between getting proper medical treatment or pursue their legal status."

City officials emphasized that the proposed rule has not gone into effect and encouraged New Yorkers to apply for help if they need it.

The Department of Homeland Security is now accepting public comments on the rule change. New Yorkers who want to submit a comment can do so through the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs' website at NYC.gov/PublicCharge.

(Lead image: People walk past an EBT stand at the Union Square GrowNYC Greenmarket in September 2013. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)