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ImmigrationProf Blog
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“Chilling Effects” of the Public-Charge Rule Are Real: Steep Decline in Benefits Use by Immigrant Families

By immigrationprof

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New data on the use of federal means-tested public-benefit programs by immigrant-led households offer the first evidence of what researchers and others have long predicted—that the public-charge rule proposed by the Trump administration in 2017 and finalized this year would deter large numbers of noncitizens from using benefits for which they are eligible.

In a new commentary, Migration Policy Institute (MPI) researchers offer their analysis of recent U.S. Census Bureau data on participation in programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), and Medicaid.

They found that between 2016 and 2019, participation in TANF, SNAP, and Medicaid declined twice as rapidly for noncitizens and their U.S.-born children as for U.S. citizens. Although enrollment rates in these programs decreased overall between 2016 and 2019, most likely due to improving economic conditions, the steeper drop among noncitizens and their children suggests that the rule and other administration policies chilled participation.

Confusion over the public-charge regulation, combined with fears of immigration enforcement and negative rhetoric on immigration, likely have contributed to program withdrawal or reluctance to enroll.

You can read this commentary here.

KJ

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Current Affairs