Immigrants Chilled from Accessing Public Benefits Programs — Even Benefits for Which the Law Makes Immigrants Eligible

The loud bark of officials in the Trump administration has created fear and trepidation in the immigrant community.  Here is another example.

Helena Bottemiller Evich on Politico reports that immigrants are turning down government help to buy infant formula and healthy food for their young children because they are afraid the Trump administration could bar them from regularizing their immigration status if they accept federal assistance. Local health providers say that they have received panicked phone calls from both documented and undocumented immigrant families demanding to be dropped from the rolls of Women, Infants, Children (WIC), a federal nutrition program aimed at pregnant women and children, after news reports that the White House is planning to deny legal status to immigrants who have accessed public benefits. According to the story, “Agencies in at least 18 states say they’ve seen drops of up to 20 percent in enrollment, and they attribute the change largely to fears about the immigration policy.”

KJ