The welfare system is meant to be a safety net.
Not a hammock…
Yet for many people, abusing the welfare system is so easy that it appears to be more of a hammack rather than economic protection.
The Trump administration is keeping its promise to reduce wasteful government spending, end abuse, and reform the immigration system to reward those based on merit!
This week, the Trump administration has begun enforcing the “public charge” rule.
This gives permission to Citizenship and Immigration Services to deny green cards to people abusing the welfare system.
Green cards are a key step to become a legal American citizen.
More details on the public charge below:
Some are calling the new public rule charge a "tax cut in disguise."
By eliminating welfare abuse and fraud, this will save $54.7 billion for legal American taxpayers.
The "public charge" has already been part of U.S. immigration law.
However, there hasn't been a standard to define what "self-suficiency" is.
Now, the administration is cracking down on immigrants who have received 1 or more welfare benefits in a 1-year or 36 month period. This includes food stamps, Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income.
Fox News outlines the new implementation of the public charge:
The Trump administration on Monday is implementing the long-awaited “public charge” rule that restricts green cards for immigrants deemed likely to be reliant on welfare — a rule furiously opposed by Democrats, but one that officials argue will protect taxpayers and align with American principles.
“It’s consistent with our law for over 140 years, it's a core American value of self-sufficiency, and it’s just plain old logic — what country wants to bring welfare problems into its society? We don't want to do that,” acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told Fox News ahead of the rule going into effect. "We’re happy to open our doors to people from all over the world but we expect them to stand on their own two feet."
The Trump administration had published the rule in August, scheduled to go into effect in October, but it was blocked amid a series of court challenges. The Supreme Court lifted preliminary injunctions in January in a 5-4 vote. It ruled the same way on a separate injunction for the state of Illinois on Friday, allowing the rule to go into effect across the country on Monday.
"This final rule will protect hardworking American taxpayers, safeguard welfare programs for truly needy Americans, reduce the Federal deficit, and re-establish the fundamental legal principle that newcomers to our society should be financially self-reliant and not dependent on the largess of United States taxpayers," White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement Friday.
While a "public charge" standard is already part of U.S. immigration law, and immigrants have regularly had to provide documents to demonstrate self-sufficiency, the standard has been lacking a formal statutory definition. Officials have been working on interim guidance published in 1999, but have been without a final rule.
The new rule defines a “public charge” as an immigrant who received one or more designated benefits for more than 12 months in a 36-month period. Those benefits that would be designated included Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), as well as most forms of Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. The rule expands the number of benefits that can be considered from interim guidance issued in 1999.
Trump is making self-sufficiency great again!
As he has said many times on the campaign trail, "There is dignity in work."
The American dream is one of hard work and success, not laziness and abuse!
The Trump Administration is enforcing the updated public charge after winning a decision by the Supreme Court.
Five federal judges that were appointed by Democratic presidents ruled against the policy.
However, the Supreme Court has overruled their decision and given the administration the ability to enforce the policy.
The Washington Times has more on the legal fight around the public charge:
The rule was finalized last summer and was supposed to take effect in October, but it was met with a flurry of lawsuits like much of the Trump immigration agenda.
Five federal judges — all appointed by Democratic presidents — issued rulings against the policy. But several appeals courts, and later the Supreme Court, stepped in and ruled that the policy could take effect while the case is being fought.
The final ruling was issued last week when the high court, in a 5-4 decision, stayed an injunction by a Chicago-area federal court.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who opposed the stay, unloaded on her Republican-appointed colleagues, saying they have created a “breakdown” in the appeals process by being too quick to agree with the Trump administration.
“The court’s recent behavior on stay applications has benefited one litigant over all others,” she wrote.
The decision is part of a string of Supreme Court victories after a series of lower-court losses on issues including border wall construction and the president’s travel ban.
Mr. Cuccinelli said that is affirmation of Mr. Trump’s approach.
“We’re not trying to push envelopes, like they did in the Obama administration,” he said.
The high court’s intervention strongly signals that the justices will side with Mr. Trump when the cases reach their doorstep in full.
New video covering Justic Sotomayor's scathing discent as well as Ted Cruz's response can be seen below:
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