'Public charge' proposals would harm immigrant and POC

Another day, another Donald Trump policy against immigrants. A proposed rule would severely cut back the number of immigrants coming to the US, especially those  from Asia and Latin America, which have waits over two decades for the first step to become an American.

Monday (Aug. 12) the US Department of Homeland Security released a final rule making sweeping changes to the "public charge" test that will disproportionately block immigrants of color from obtaining lawful permanent residency, also known as green cards, inhibit immigrant workers and foreign students from extending or changing their visas, and undermine the ability of green card holders to re-enter the US if they have spent more than 6 months abroad.

Immigration authorities currently ask green card applicants to prove they won't be a burden on the country, but the new regulation explands the what public assistance programs that would disqualify immigrants, including green card holders awaiting citizenship. It would require caseworkers to consider the use of government housing, food and medical assistance such as the widely used Section 8 housing vouchers and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The new rule will impose an unprecedented test to assess future benefits use that will penalize legal immigrants, especially immigrant seniors and all immigrants who are low-income, lack English language proficiency, have chronic medical conditions, and lack access to private health insurance, educational opportunities, and credit. 

According to a report by Migration Policy Institute, more than 941,000 recent green card holders, including approximately 300,000 from Asian countries, would likely have been excluded if the rule had already been in effect when they applied.

Despite the widespread outcry that led to over 260,000 public comments in the months following the proposed rule, the changes to the public charge criteria have been enacted and will go into effect in 60 days after formal publication scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 14, which means it would go into effect Oct. 15.

However, the new law would likely face a slew of legal challenges that would most probably delay enaction into 2020 if survives the court battles.

“We strongly condemn the Trump administration’s changes to the public charge rule. This racist policy seeks to dramatically undermine the family-based immigration system that has been the backbone of our country and instead prioritizes wealthy immigrants. The public charge rule change continues the administration’s inhumane assault on immigrant families by increasing denials of green card applicants," said the Asian Americans Advancing Justice in a statement.

Hours after the administration announced its intention,  Santa Clara and San Francisco Counties which filed the first lawsuit in U.S. District Court. Their legal challenge is the first of numerous court complaints civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups have vowed to mount against the so-called "public charge" regulation, which they believe will penalize low-income immigrants and their U.S. citizen children.

A report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the UC Berkeley Labor Center and California Food Policy Advocates, found that California’s economy could lose $2.8 billion and up to 17,700 jobs because of changes to the “public charge” rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus – Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Rep. Judy Chu, Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Rep. Karen Bass, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Rep. Joaquin Castro – released the following statement on the final public charge rule:

“The Trump Administration’s new public charge rule is yet another cruel attempt to frighten and intimidate immigrant communities. It contradicts years of federal policy by restructuring our immigration system so that it favors the wealthy over communities of color and working families. Moreover, it relies on the false narrative that immigrants are a ‘burden’ on our country and ignores the fact that our country was built and continues to grow because of the contributions and sacrifices of immigrant families. The intent of this rule is to disregard that tradition and devalue the contributions of immigrants from all walks of life.

“This rule is detrimental to immigrant families who will now be forced to choose between taking care of their basic needs or having a future in America. We have already heard heartbreaking reports of immigrant families disenrolling from programs their families need because they are concerned that using benefits will jeopardize their immigration status," continued the statement.

“The Trump administration unveiled yet another heartless plan to block immigrants and people with disabilities from legally immigrating to the United States. The president effectively declared that you could be too old, too young, too poor, or too sick to come to this country," said Claudia Center, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Disability Rights Project.

“The proposed rule grows out of the absurd assumption that people with disabilities cannot be productive, valued members of our society. This is not only incredibly cruel, it’s illegal. The Rehabilitation Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against anyone on the basis of disability, whether or not they’re a citizen," she continued in her statement

In anticipation of the administration's action, in June Rep. Chu and 36 cosponsors today introduced a bill, the No Federal Funds for Public Charge Act, that would prohibit the use of federal funds to implement the Trump administration’s proposed “public charge” regulation. The bill, H.R. 3222, would create a barrier to the Trump administration’s attempts to vastly expand the number of people who may be deemed ineligible for lawful permanent residence (a “green card”) based on their household income, use of certain essential government services, and other criteria.

Under the current quota system, high-volume immigration countries like India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines experience the longest U.S. visa wait times.

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Report dives deep into the impact of Asian immigrants to the US

When debating the benefits of immigrants, a new report says the economic impact of AAPI immigrants cannot be overlooked.

The report released Thursday (June 13) reveals there are more than 1.1 million Asian American immigrant-owned businesses in the U.S. -- nearly three times as many as the 389,000 businesses owned by native-born Asian Americans. Over a third of all immigrant-owned businesses in the country are owned by Asian Americans.

Advancing Justice-LA (Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles) and Advancing Justice | AAJC (Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC) released a new report, "Inside the Numbers: How Immigration Shapes Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities," which details the diversity of the immigrant population within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, including contributions to the U.S. economy. Highlights of the report was revealed in a forum held in Washington, DC.

“We have been advocating for policies that help our community, not hurt them. This report shows that long visa backlogs, constant attacks on the immigrant community, and enforcement efforts are having a negative effect in our community, but still our community is a resilient one,” said John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.

 “Growing up as an undocumented immigrant, I know how the right policies can have a positive impact and allow for immigrants and refugees in our community to more effectively contribute and even go on to become naturalized citizens and make their mark in the world.”

The report provides background on the immigration pathways that people take to come to the U.S. and analyzes key issues, such as how AAPIs are affected by current ineffective immigration policies and are suffering because of new policy proposals. From the impact of the Muslim and refugee bans and the rescission of DACA and Temporary Protected Status to the visa backlogs and long processing times to become naturalized citizens, the Asian American community is undeniably feeling the impact.

TWITTER / AAAJ

John C Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.introduced the report.

One of the disturbing chapters of the report focuses on the high number of T-Visas given to immigrants from Asian countries. T-Visas are given to some victims of human trafficking.

In 2017, the majority of T visa recipients (246 individuals, 52 percent) were from Asian countries, says the report. The Philippines alone accounted for 40 percent of the global total of T visas issued in 2017, and India 5 percent.

A large portion of the Filipino nationals who received T visas were victims of labor trafficking. According to a United Nations study, Filipino workers are usually trafficked through illegal recruitment in which they pay high fees for the promise of nonexistent jobs or jobs that pay less than those promised. According to a Polaris report, Filipino workers on temporary nonimmigrant visas have the second-highest rates of human trafficking after Mexicans.

There are nearly 3.7 million aspiring immigrants waiting for family preference visas, and more than 40% of the people stuck in the family backlogs are from Asia. In the final section in the report, Advancing Justice | AAJC and Advancing Justice-LA share several policy recommendations:

• Pass legislation to update the family immigration system and resolve the problem of family backlogs.
• Ask Congress to defund and repeal all iterations of the Muslim Ban and prevent any future president from enacting any new, similar bans.
• Recommend the administration honor the requests of asylum seekers, without being criminalized, turned away, detained indefinitely, or separated from their families and cuts made to the enforcement, detention, and deportation budgets of ICE and CBP within the Department of Homeland Security.

In the current debate on immigration that is swirling through the country today, immigrants from Asia and their contributions to the overall welfare of the US are often not included despite the fact  The report should be must reading by Congress when proposing immigration reforms or countering the false allegations coming from the White House.

"Over 12 million Asian immigrants and 220,000 Pacific Islander immigrants live in the U.S., yet they are often overlooked in domestic policies and immigration policy," said Jeffer Giang, Research Analyst at Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles. 

"In order for our communities to thrive, we need to reduce barriers to accessing critical services and opportunities," said Glang. "This report will help policy- and decision-makers need to better understand the contributions and needs of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in this country."

To read the complete report, click here.

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