This Monday, February 24th, the new public charge rule will go into effect. Our fight is not over – the lawsuits are still making their way through the courts, and this implementation of the rule is provisional until a final judgement is reached by the courts. Meanwhile, we at CDF-TX want to remind families of the following five things:
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Most immigrants will not be affected.
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Many public programs are not considered in the public charge test.
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Use of public programs does not automatically make you a public charge.
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Benefits used by family members will not count in public charge decisions.
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There are laws protecting the personal information of public benefits applicants and recipients.
The Public Charge rule will not penalize you for enrolling your children in programs like CHIP, Medicaid, SNAP, and others. There are many simple documents at this website (in English and Spanish) that can help answer questions: protectingimmigrantfamilies.org/know-your-rights
If you still have questions, please seek help at a local legal services provider, where you can get an initial screening for free, or at very low cost. A statewide List of Texas Immigration Legal Services Providers can be found here.