In the wake of last week’s executive actions, the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition (PIF) has shared new resources to empower families and clarify how public charge determinations may impact their access to essential services. Additionally, PIF and the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV) published a fact sheet with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) tailored for sexual assault or domestic violence survivors. PIF has stated that “immigrant families need to know that [President] Trump has not changed eligibility for health care, nutrition or housing assistance or public charge policy.”
The USCIS resource, “How Receiving Public Benefits Might Impact the Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility,” clarifies that programs and services designed to meet the unique needs of domestic violence or sexual assault survivors – such as shelters, counseling, or healthcare services – are not included in the evaluation of whether someone is deemed a public charge. In other words, domestic violence or sexual assault survivors can access these critical benefits without worrying that doing so will negatively affect their immigration status or admissibility.
Find the PIF public charge resources for advocates and community members here.
Find the USCIS resource for survivors of gender-based violence here.