Tell DHS: Don't Make Kids Pay for Trump's War on Immigration

Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is putting immigrant families in an impossible position: get the food and healthcare your family needs — or fear that doing so could cost you a future in America.

A new DHS “public charge” rule gives immigration officers sweeping discretion to consider government assistance when deciding whether immigrants can get green cards. Now 22 states and Washington, D.C. are suing to stop it, warning that families could be scared away from Medicaid, food assistance, housing support, and other programs they are legally entitled to use.

The cruelty doesn’t stop with immigrants. U.S.-citizen children in mixed-status families could suffer when their parents become afraid that asking for help will jeopardize the family’s immigration future.

Tell Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin: Suspend and rescind Trump’s public-charge rule. Stop using food, healthcare, and basic necessities as weapons against kids and immigrant families.

No parent should have to wonder whether taking a sick child to the doctor could come back to haunt them in an immigration office. No family should have to choose between putting food on the table and staying together.

But fear is part of what makes this policy so dangerous. Even families who remain legally eligible for assistance may avoid programs they need because they don’t know what DHS could hold against them later.

Some children will go without. Health problems may get worse. And families already struggling with high costs will be pushed even closer to the edge — all because the Trump administration decided that basic human needs should become another tool in its immigration crackdown.

Secretary Mullin and DHS must suspend and rescind the rule now. With implementation looming and states already fighting it in court, now is the time to increase the pressure before families are forced to make impossible choices.

Add your name and tell Secretary Mullin: Immigrant families should not be punished for feeding their children, getting medical care, or seeking help when they need it.

The petition to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reads:

“Suspend and rescind the new public-charge rule. Stop using access to food, healthcare, housing, and other essential benefits to punish immigrant families or threaten their path to permanent residency.”