Today is the final day to submit a public comment opposing the Trump administration’s “public charge” revision, a discriminatory proposal that punishes working immigrant families for legally accessing vital programs like SNAP. While the administration must have an open comment period before implementing any changes, the proposal is already having harmful effects.
In September, providers in at least 18 states said they’d seen drops in enrollment in programs like WIC, while food bank leaders said they’d seen fearful families opt out of their services even though they have nothing to do with the federal government. "It's not like things were hunky-dory for immigrants before then,” Joel Berg of Hunger Free NYC said about the proposal, “and now it's just gotten so much worse.”
”Because one in four American children have at least one immigrant parent,” said the Protect Immigrant Families coalition, “this could impact millions. It would make us a sicker, poorer, and hungrier nation.” And, its the latest battle yet in the administration’s cruel war on children. Trump’s “immigration policies are far-reaching,” tweeted Human Rights First in a thread, “sometimes difficult to understand, and rooted in hate. But one thing seems to unite them all: a blatant, absolute disregard for the rights, safety, and well-being of children.”
More than 150,000 public comments have already been submitted regarding the administration’s proposal, including over 25,000 comments from the Daily Kos community, according to Daily Kos’s Huiying Chan. Let’s close out this comment period strong and in support of children and hardworking immigrant families. Click here to submit a public comment opposing this harmful proposal.