The US to make it easier for low-income immigrants to get green cards
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The Biden government has officially scattered a Trump-era rule that discriminated against low-income immigrants, barring them from acquiring legal residency if they used specific government benefits.
Under the Trump-era rule, utilizing housing vouchers, food stamps and Medicaid could be against immigrants applying for green cards.
Also, the Trump government created a new test that considered candidates’ income, age, medical conditions, skills, and family size to determine whether they were likely to rely on these benefits in the future.
The US to make it easier for low-income immigrants
The Department of Homeland Security said a new guideline for the “public charge” rule would go into effect on December 23. However, the Biden government had already stopped applying the past version last year.
The public charge guideline bars individuals from getting green cards if they would be a burden to the United States. For years prior to the Trump government, that stood interpreted. As being essentially dependent on cash help, income maintenance, or government support for long-term institutionalization.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas explained that the shift “guarantees fair and humane treatment”.
“Consistent with America’s bedrock values, we will not punish people for deciding. To get to the medical advantages and other supplemental government services available to them,” he said.
[October 2022 Visa Bulletin Predictions]
Legitimate difficulties went on, and in 2021, the Biden government said it would not continue defending the rule.
Thursday’s declaration was invited by immigrants advocates, who said the Trump government’s extended rule had created a hard atmosphere for those looking for legal residency.
“The public charge guideline caused such fear among immigrants who sought to legally apply for a green card. That many decided to forego medical services and vital economic support“. American Immigration Lawyers Association President Jeremy McKinney said in a statement.
“These changes to simplify and de-mystify the rule will genuinely change lives across our country”.
