While it is true that the news is that the Donald Trump government will make it harder for legal migrants who depend on public assistance - such as food and housing vouchers with government subsidies - to finally obtain permanent residence, it is not something new.

While it is true that the news is that the Donald Trump government will make it harder for legal migrants who depend on public assistance - such as food and housing vouchers with government subsidies - to finally obtain permanent residence, it is not something new. This is supposedly part of a new policy to reduce the flow of people who arrive legally in the United States and of immigrants who receive a legal residence status, although the measure would not have a direct effect on the number of people accessing States United legally and would not reduce the number of immigrants who receive a permanent residence after meeting the requirements imposed by immigration, which as we have said, HAVE NOT CHANGED.

The measure will mainly affect very poor people who live legally in the country and who have probably applied for public benefits, which would make it difficult for those who have financial problems to obtain permanent resident status through the so-called green card, which allows them to stay in U.S. But this situation was already happening previously, since one of the requirements for obtaining a permanent residence is not to be a burden on the United States government. The novelty is that applicants will be investigated to determine if they have received public benefits in the past, but simply as part of a possible rejection of the Immigration Service for the aforementioned cause.

Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), announced the new regulation on August 12 from the White House. Cuccinelli said that with this measure the government will be able to insist that migrants who go to the United States be "self-sufficient", instead of people who will "deplete" public resources to meet their needs. However, the government could already investigate (and does) the applicants for permanent residence in order to establish that they can support themselves and their families before allowing them to immigrate to the country.

“The benefit to taxpayers will be a long-term benefit that seeks to ensure that our immigration system attracts people to join us as citizens, first as permanent residents, who are able to sustain themselves, who will not depend of welfare systems, especially at this time when the welfare state is so expensive and extensive, ”said Cuccinelli. But it is very difficult to show that there is a significant number of immigrants who, being in a situation of need, could have obtained permanent residence before the measure.

With the new regulation, the financial well-being of migrants who are in the United States legally, with temporary visas, will be reviewed more thoroughly when they apply for the green card. Migration officials will consider the age, health, family status, assets, resources, financial status and education of immigrants. And they will be given ample room to determine if an immigrant is likely to need public resources, to deny residence and even order deportation.

It is also very important to mention that the program DOES NOT APPLY for those who already have green cards, for refugees or for asylum seekers ; Nor in cases of pregnant women or children . Lawyer Manuel Solis warns that many migrants, even those who would not be affected by the rule, may give up asking for any public assistance they need, including vaccines paid by the government for their children, just for fear of reprisals from immigration authorities , which, he thinks, is serious. “It will be a tremendous damage because many families will be forced to stop using critical health care and nutrition systems, especially for the children of these migrants. The damage can take several decades to repair. ”

Monday's announcement is part of Trump's White House aggressive approach to the system of immigration laws and regulations. In the past three years, the president has repeatedly attacked what he says are the dangers of illegal immigration, but his government also seems to want to put limits on immigration by legal means.

The measure has been one of the priorities of Stephen Miller, the ideologue of Trump's immigration agenda, who considers it the most significant change to the rules that regulate how migrants arrive in the United States.

The new regulation, which would take effect within sixty days, gives the Trump administration a new and powerful tool to restrict the number of people who go to live and work in the United States. With the new rule, it is said that the United States wants migrants to remain alone in all areas and not those who "depend on public resources to meet their needs."

As we have said, the ability of immigrants to sustain themselves financially to determine whether they are granted the right to work and live permanently in the United States has long been taken into consideration, so the measure does not imply anything new. The only thing that changes is that the government may now want to "predict" the possible economic well-being of immigrants as the key to the decision.

Over time, officials expect the policy to change the composition of the US immigration system by favoring wealthier immigrants who would be less likely to request public assistance than those who are poor, which is not supported by objective data.

On Monday, when they asked Cuccinelli if that did not contravene the poem inscribed in the Statue of Liberty - "give me your tired, your poor, your masses piled up" - he replied: "I am not ready to remove anything from the statue. We have a long history of being one of the most welcoming nations in the world. ”

There is no objective study to determine how many people will be affected by the change of the rule. USCIS has not done a thorough analysis to provide estimates. However, officials from the Department of Homeland Security have calculated from federal records that more than 382,000 immigrants seek to adjust their immigration status each year, and would therefore be affected by the change to the review process established with the rule, although, In fact, the decision on its acceptance or not will not have a significant impact. However, the serious thing is that it is believed that more than 324,000 people in homes where there are people without citizenship will abandon or not seek to join various public assistance programs, including such important programs as vaccination of children.

Moreover, according to organizations and defenders of migrants from across the country, the number of people who will be affected is much greater: they estimate that 26 million immigrants legally living in the United States will reconsider requesting assistance to public programs for fear of that resorting to it alters your chances of staying in the country, since information about this new program is not arriving correctly and is causing unnecessary fear.

As always, if you are in the process of obtaining your permanent residence, you already have it or plan to request it in the future, do not hesitate to consult with the offices of Lawyer Manuel Solís where we are available to inform you.