The Trump administration wants to make it so only the wealthiest can make the US their home. They want to force immigrants to choose between their health, housing, and food assistance and keeping their families together. We have until December 10^th to submit public comment against these changes.

What is Public Charge?

Public Charge is an existing rule used by immigration officials when determining Legal Permanent Residency applications (the green card) based on family petitions or employment, or Visa applications when seeking to enter the country. “Public Charge” refers to a person who is considered likely to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence. The Public Charge rule does NOT apply to Refugees, Asylees, Survivors of Domestic Violence (VAWA), Crime Victims (Visa U, SIJS). It does NOT apply when lawful permanent residents (green card holders) apply for U.S. citizenship.

Current Public Charge Rule

Immigration officials take into consideration an applicant’s Age, Health, Family status, Financial status, Education and skills, Affidavit of support and whether the applicant has received Cash assistance for income maintenance (i.e. SSI, general assistance) or have they been institutionalized for long-term care.

What change does the Trump administration want to implement?

The Trump administration wants to change the current public charge rule to harm immigrants through an agency rule change process. This process requires the government to accept and review public comment for 60 days before proceeding with the rule change.

The proposed new Public Charge rule would:

• Define “public charge” as an immigrant who receives one or more public benefits.
• Implement a new question to determine Public Charge: “will the applicant in the future likely be dependent upon one or more of the public benefits on the new list?”
• Define a “public benefit” for Public Charge purposes as:
  • Non-emergency medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), Medicare Part D Low Income Subsidy, Housing Assistance (public housing or Section 8 housing vouchers and rental assistance)
    • No other public services or benefits (like WIC, EITC, Disaster Relief etc.) would count against an individual for public charge purposes
  • Expand the consideration of Public Charge to individuals within the country who seek to adjust their visa status
  • Weigh positive and negative factors in the following categories: ✓Age ✓Health ✓Family status ✓Financial status ✓Education and skills ✓Affidavit of support
    • Age: Being under 18 or over 61 would be considered a negative factor
    • Health: Medical conditions that will likely interfere with ability to work and require extensive medical treatment or institutionalization will be considered a negative factor
    • Financial Status: Receiving one or more public benefits will be heavily weighted as a negative factor. Earning less than 125% of the Federal Poverty Guideline would be considered a negative factor.
    • Education and skills: Not having a high school or higher education would be a negative factor.
  • The receipt of public benefits by U.S. citizen children (or any child) will not directly be a factor in a parents’ public charge test. ● If a child is an immigrant, his/her/their own use of benefits counts toward his/her/their own public charge determination.
  • These changes will NOT impact Refugees, Asylees, Survivors of Domestic Violence (VAWA), Crime Victims (Visa U, SIJS), or lawful permanent residents (those who have a green card) when applying for citizenship.

When will the Public Charge rule change occur?

These rule changes are only a proposal. The government is required to submit possible rule changes to the public and allow comments for 60 days. The administration submitted the rule on October 10 and the public has until December 10 to submit their comment. The new rule will only be implemented until the government reviews the comments and publishes the final law

Stop the attack: Submit your comment against these proposed changes!

1. Go to protectingimmigrantfamilies.org
2. Write your comment against the change in your own words. Explain how you, your loved ones, or your community would be impacted and why you disagree with the change. Each comment must be UNIQUE to count as a new comment.
3. You only need to include your name, email, and zip code!

Points you can include in your comment:

• This change favors the wealthy. Our ability to call the US home with our families shouldn’t be based on how much we have.
• This change would force immigrants to choose between their health, housing, and food assistance and keeping their families together
• We are all better off when our neighbors get enough food to eat, the healthcare they need, and safe housing.
• This rule change would disproportionately impact the most vulnerable people in our community, including people with disabilities, children, older adults, and families who are struggling financially.
• This rule would disproportionately impact immigrants of  color
• If implemented, this rule could harm families for generations
• This proposed regulation will have devastating consequences for all members of an immigrant family, regardless of whether some are citizens or not: We’ve already seen families un-enroll from vital programs out of fear that participation will harm their family’s chance at a permanent future here.

Este testimonio fue preparado para una conferencia de prensa sobre el maltrato medico en los centros de detencion de imigracion, especificamente en el centro GEO de Aurora.

Por favor apoye la recaudacion de fondos para los hijos de Guadalupe quien se quedaron sin sus padres gracias a la deportacion. 

*Continues in English*

Guadalupe Salas

Mi nombre es Guadalupe Salas. En mayo yo y mi esposo Joel fuimos detenidos y deportados. Era el cumpleanyos de mi hija mayor Nereida, y mi esposo me dijo vamos a comprarle un café a la niña y después la llevamos a cenar. Estábamos en Starbucks cercas de su trabajo recogiendo su cafe. Habían dos agentes de inmigración, uno estaba adentro y otro afuera con ropa de civil. Cuando yo venía entrando a mi carro me pararon los agentes y me dijeron – “eres Guadalupe Salas? Sabemos que tienes orden de deportacion.” Solo me buscaban a mi pero empezaron a hacerle preguntas a mi esposo. Nos agarraron, nos esposaron, y nos llevaron a centennial para documentar el caso y luego nos separaron y nos llevaron a GEO.

Esto fue en Mayo cuando estuve en el centro de detención GEO en Aurora por 3 semanas antes de ser deportada. El centro es muy injusto.

A mi me tuvieron con un dolor de muela por una semana. Me dolía tanto. El dolor era tan fuerte que me dolía la cabeza, todo el cerebro. No podía comer más que unas cucharadas toda la semana, ni un pan. Tenemos que estar mandando un papel pidiendo ayuda médica – pero parece que ese papel a la oficina nunca llega. Tenemos que seguir mandando estos papeles todo el tiempo porque no nos hacen caso. Los mismos que estamos allí nos tenemos que ayudar. Hable con una señora que había estado allí por un año y ella tenía una pastilla para el dolor que había guardado por una emergencia.

En esas tres semanas hubo una situación muy dura, que me dio entender que si no insistes, alli te vas a morir y ellos no les importa.

Un dia, a la hora de cenar una muchacha indígena de Honduras que hablan otro dialecto se quedó en su celda y no salio, se quedo desmayada en el piso y nadie fue a ver que tenía por horas. La muchacha estaba casi muerta. No les importo, no la atendieron hasta el siguiente dia, y aun asi solo le dieron una pastilla para dolor. Ya nunca la volvieron a checar. Nunca entró un doctor o una enfermera para ver cómo seguía. Solo las compañeras se encargaban de darle de comer.  No me imagina lo que se sentía no poder hablar ni español ni menos el inglés y poder pedir ayuda y poder insistir. Yo pense, aqui te mueres y no te atienden.

Los congresistas y la comunidad deben entender que injustos son en los centros de detención. En mi caso, en el caso de la muchacha, y en este caso de la epidemia de Varicela en GEO está bien claro que no les importa la salud de las personas. El Congreso tiene que hacer algo para proteger los derechos de las personas.

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This testimony was written for a press conference on medical mistreatment in detention centers as a whole and specifically at the GEO detention center in Aurora.

Please support the fundraiser for Guadalupe’s children who lost both their parents thanks to deportation. 

Guadalupe Salas

My name is Guadalupe Salas. In May, I and my husband Joel were detained and deported. It was my eldest daughter Nereida’s birthday, and my husband told me that we should pick up a coffee for our little girl in the morning and then take her to dinner at night. So we went to the Starbucks near her work to pick up her birthday coffee. There were two immigration agents, one inside and one outside in plain clothes. As I was getting into my car, the agents stopped me and asked – “are you Guadalupe Salas? We know you have a deportation order.” They were just looking for me but they started asking my husband questions. They grabbed us, handcuffed us, and took us to the centennial to document the case and then separated us and took us to GEO.

This was in May when I was in the GEO detention center in Aurora for 3 weeks before being deported. The center is very unfair.

They had me with a toothache for a week. It hurt so much. The pain was so strong that my head hurt. I could not eat more than a few bites all week, not even a bite of bread. In order to get medical assistance, we have to send notes asking for medical help – but it seems those notes never make it to the office they need to. We have to keep sending these notes all the time because they do not pay attention to us. All of us who are in there have to help each other. I finally talked with to a lady who had been there for a year and she had a pain pill she had saved for an emergency that she gave me.

In those three weeks there was a very hard situation, which made me to understand that if you do not insist and advocate for yourself, you can die there and they do not care.

One day, at dinner time, an indigenous girl from Honduras who speaks another dialect stayed in her cell and did not go out. She fell unconscious on the floor for hours she stayed there because nobody went to see her. The girl was almost dead. They did not care, they did not take care of her until the next day, and even then they only gave her a pill for pain. They never checked it again. A doctor or a nurse never came in to see how she was doing. Only the other women in there cared and decided to feed her to ensure she ate. I can not imagine what it felt like not being able to speak Spanish much less English and not be able to ask for help and make sure you got it. I thought, you could die here and they could care less.

Congress and the community must understand how unfair they are in detention centers. In my case, in the case of the girl, and in this case of the Varicella epidemic in GEO it is very clear that they do not care about people’s health. Congress has to do something to protect people who are in detention.