{"id":1314038,"date":"2019-08-27T22:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T04:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/health-immigration-officials-worry-trump-administrations-public-charge-changes-could-deter-immigrants-from-accessing-eligible-benefits\/"},"modified":"2019-08-27T22:12:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T04:12:00","slug":"health-immigration-officials-worry-trump-administrations-public-charge-changes-could-deter-immigrants-from-accessing-eligible-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/health-immigration-officials-worry-trump-administrations-public-charge-changes-could-deter-immigrants-from-accessing-eligible-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Health, immigration officials worry Trump Administration\u2019s public charge changes could deter immigrants from accessing eligible benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Mountain Family Health Centers Advocacy Coordinator Danyelle Rigli.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Health-care advocates and immigration attorneys say that forthcoming changes to the public charge rule continue to fuel fear and cause confusion among local immigrant communities.<\/p>\n

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services defines \u201cpublic charge\u201d as an individual likely to rely primarily on the government for subsistence. The public charge test generally applies to those seeking permanent residency via a green card or someone applying for non-immigrant or other temporary benefits.<\/p>\n

Currently, the public charge test mainly examines the applicant\u2019s usage of cash assistance programs or long-term institutional care paid for by the government.<\/p>\n

The new public charge test, which takes effect Oct. 15, would expand that inquiry to also review the applicant\u2019s usage of Medicaid, Section 8 housing vouchers, public housing and food stamps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is called the chilling effect where people are pulling out of benefits that they are eligible for, or that their children are eligible for,\u201d Mountain Family Health Centers Advocacy Coordinator Danyelle Rigli said. \u201cClinics and doctors\u2019 offices are seeing bigger no-show rates because of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are really self-isolating and changing their behavior because of that fear,\u201d added Rigli.<\/p>\n

She said the new public charge rule does not take into account usage of school-based nutrition services, public education, the special supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+), Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, or sliding fee scales.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some other exemptions such as asylum seekers, refugees, survivors of trafficking, and other serious crimes,\u201d Rigli said.<\/p>\n

According to the Protecting Immigrant Families, Advancing Our Future (\u201cPIF\u201d) campaign, the Trump Administration\u2019s updated public charge rule has the potential to impact 393,000 people in Colorado including 161,000 children.<\/p>\n

The Protecting Immigrant Families campaign maintains that the administration\u2019s finalized public charge rule makes it more difficult for immigrants reliant on public benefits to receive a green card.<\/p>\n

Glenwood Springs-based immigration attorney Ted Hess argued that the new public charge rule puts an unfair emphasis on wealth and literacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say you have an American citizen that wants to immigrate his undocumented bride,\u201d Hess explained. \u201cIf his new bride is healthy, 21-years-old, has a high school diploma, speaks English, and her husband makes at least 125 percent of the federal poverty level, his wife will get in,\u201d Hess said.<\/p>\n

However, if that same American citizen attempted to immigrate his 65-year-old, diabetic mother that did not speak English, the new public charge rule would make such a task nearly impossible, Hess said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Stephen Miller. The evil genius in the White House,\u201d Hess said of President Trump\u2019s senior advisor. \u201cI have seen an uptick in concern about the issue, no question about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

mabennett@postindependent.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mountain Family Health Centers Advocacy Coordinator Danyelle Rigli.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent Health-care advocates and immigration attorneys say that forthcoming changes to the public charge rule continue to fuel fear and cause confusion among local immigrant communities. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services defines \u201cpublic charge\u201d as an individual likely to rely primarily on the government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 15:57:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}