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Health Law and Policy

Penn State Dickinson Law

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Public charge

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Immigrants And Interdependence: How The Covid-19 Pandemic Exposes The Folly Of The New Public Charge Rule, Medha D. Makhlouf, Jasmine Sandhu Jan 2020

Immigrants And Interdependence: How The Covid-19 Pandemic Exposes The Folly Of The New Public Charge Rule, Medha D. Makhlouf, Jasmine Sandhu

Faculty Scholarly Works

On February 24, 2020, just as the Trump administration began taking significant action to prepare for an outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States, it also began implementing its new public charge rule. Public charge is an immigration law that restricts the admission of certain noncitizens based on the likelihood that they will become dependent on the government for support. The major effect of the new rule is to chill noncitizens from enrolling in public benefits, including Medicaid, out of fear of negative immigration consequences. These chilling effects have persisted during the pandemic. When noncitizens are afraid to (1) seek …


The Public Charge Rule As Public Health Policy, Medha D. Makhlouf Jun 2019

The Public Charge Rule As Public Health Policy, Medha D. Makhlouf

Faculty Scholarly Works

A recent Gallup poll found that health care, the economy, and immigration are the top three most important political issues for U.S. voters. Public charge policy—which relates to the admission of noncitizens based on the likelihood that they will not become dependent on the U.S. government for support—lies at the intersection of these three topics. At the same time, immigration and welfare reform are prominent agenda items for the current administration. On October 10, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would transform public charge policy that has existed for more than a …