A proposed federal rule would make it harder for New Americans on their path to citizenship and folks moving to the country to thrive and to fully contribute to our communities. The Minnesota Budget Project is submitting a comment expressing our opposition to this rule change. Join us.

It’s critical to have as many voices speaking out against the harm the public charge rule would do to our communities and immigrant neighbors. Estimates show that 212,000 folks in Minnesota could consider turning down health care, nutrition, or other essential assistance for fear of being considered a “public charge,” which would put more roadblocks in their path to citizenship and make it harder to keep families together. Some 109,000 of that estimate are U.S. citizens, including 74,000 children.

If just 25 percent of those actually drop their participation in public supports, it would mean a $165 million reduction in federal funding going to Minnesotans. In addition, when people aren’t able to buy the food they need or visit doctors when they’re sick, that has a ripple effect. It could lead to an estimated loss of $320 million in the state’s economy, and a loss of up to 2,000 jobs.

Public comments can have a lot of power. For example, more than 95,000 public comments were submitted about Kentucky’s proposed Medicaid work reporting requirement, raising concerns about how it would mean a loss of health care for thousands of Kentuckians. In blocking Kentucky’s Medicaid waiver, the court criticized federal administrators for ignoring the public comments.

There are two ways you can submit a comment:
By Web: Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
By Mail: Samantha Deshommes, Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20529-2140. Refer to DHS Docket No. USCIS-2010-0012.