{"id":337705,"date":"2026-09-04T05:14:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T05:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/337705\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T05:14:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T05:14:23","slug":"new-public-charge-rule-sparks-fear-among-immigrant-new-yorkers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/337705\/","title":{"rendered":"New ‘public charge’ rule sparks fear among immigrant New Yorkers"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (PIX11) \u2014 A new federal immigration policy set to take effect this month could affect hundreds of thousands of immigrants each year by giving immigration officers more factors to consider when deciding whether certain visa applicants could become a \u201cpublic charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new rule, announced by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in August, is scheduled to take effect September 18.<\/p>\n

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Under the policy, immigration officers can consider a person\u2019s age, health, family status, financial resources, education, and skills when determining whether they are likely to become dependent on government assistance.<\/p>\n

The changes are causing concern among some immigrant New Yorkers, including people who are already living legally in the United States. \u201cHonestly, I think it\u2019s very concerning,\u201d one legal permanent resident and immigrant mother told PIX11. She asked that her face not be shown because of concerns about her immigration case. \u201cI don\u2019t understand how someone is supposed to be able to work enough that they can support a household, pay rent, the immigration process, and on top of that, pay for very, very expensive health care\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

Who could be affected?<\/p>\n

According to USCIS, the new policy applies to more than 20 categories of visa applicants. Those include:<\/p>\n

Spouses of U.S. citizens<\/p>\n

Fianc\u00e9s of U.S. citizens<\/p>\n

Children of U.S. citizens<\/p>\n

Parents of U.S. citizens<\/p>\n

Investors<\/p>\n

Religious workers<\/p>\n

Members of the U.S. military<\/p>\n

The policy is part of the federal government\u2019s effort to determine whether certain immigrants are likely to become dependent on public assistance. USCIS says the goal is to ensure immigrants are \u201cself-sufficient and not dependent on taxpayer-funded government benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest concerns surrounding the new policy is how an applicant\u2019s use of certain public benefits could factor into the decision. That\u2019s because benefits such as SNAP and Medicaid could be considered as part of the overall public charge determination.<\/p>\n

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Faiza Ali with the New York City Mayor\u2019s Office of Immigrant Affairs said the city does not want families to stop accessing essential services because of confusion or fear. \u201cWhat we don\u2019t want is families to go hungry. We don\u2019t want families to skip health care,\u201d Ali said.<\/p>\n

The city is preparing to provide information and outreach to immigrant communities as the policy takes effect. Ali said the city plans to canvass immigrant-dense neighborhoods, work with community organizations and train city outreach workers to help residents understand what the changes mean. \u201cIt\u2019s really important that we are bringing information into the communities,\u201d Ali said.<\/p>\n

What happens if someone is considered a public charge?<\/p>\n

If an immigration officer determines that an applicant is likely to become a public charge, the person could potentially be required to post a bond with the federal government.<\/p>\n

The amount of the bond would be based, in part, on the amount of assistance the government determines the person could potentially receive over the next five years.<\/p>\n

The policy does not mean every immigrant who receives public benefits will automatically be denied a visa or immigration benefit. Immigration officers are expected to consider the applicant\u2019s overall circumstances.<\/p>\n

New Yorkers with questions about how the policy could affect their individual immigration situation can contact the city\u2019s legal support hotline at\u00a0800-354-0365.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (PIX11) \u2014 A new federal immigration policy set to take effect this month could affect hundreds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-337705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}