
This guidance comes from the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC).
Today, February 24, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will implement changes to the public charge rule. We are angered and saddened by what this means for low-income immigrant communities. The threat of the rule change has already had a chilling effect on immigrant families — many of which include U.S. citizens — who are not applying for or are actively disenrolling from government programs for fear it could impact their ability to make changes to their immigration status.
Our fight is not over. We will continue to fight back against the fear and confusion this rule has caused with facts. Our job is to educate service providers, legal service providers and community members about the details of this rule. The rule does not apply to most immigrants and most public benefit programs are not included in the rule.
Resources, including multilingual fact sheets about the new public charge rule, are available on our website here. Our public charge one-pager, available now in English and Spanish, will be translated into multiple languages and posted to our website soon. To request a public charge presentation or training, fill out our training request form. New Yorkers who have questions about the new rule and whether it applies to them can also receive free and confidential information from the New Americans Hotline at 1-800-566-7636.