Immigration policy & COVID-19 (2020)

Abstract

On February 24, 2020, Congress passed the Public Charge Grounds Inadmissibility legislation, also known as the public charge rule. The rule allows the federal government to determine whether a person is likely to become a public charge—a noncitizen who receives public benefits for the total of any 12 months during a 36-month period. These benefits include cash assistance that supplements individual or household income, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), among other sources. Adopting the public charge rule a month before the COVID-19 pandemic began may have compromised the collective health and economic security of immigrant populations already living in the U.S. and Indiana. Executive orders have also closed nonessential businesses that disproportionately hire immigrants. Therefore, this brief examines the initial implications of the public charge rule on low-income immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic.