Feds Restore Immigration Public Charge Rules To Pre-Trump Definition: Legal Immigrants Will Not Be Penalized For Receiving Health-Related Benefits

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule to clarify how it will administer the public charge ground of inadmissibility. The rule restores the historical understanding of a ‘public charge’ that had been in place for decades, until the prior Administration began to consider supplemental public health benefits such as Medicaid and nutritional assistance as part of the public charge inadmissibility determination. The final rule will be effective on December 23, 2022.

Section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) renders a noncitizen inadmissible if they are “likely at any time to become . . .