Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. —On Friday, December 19, 127 Members of Congress, including 17 Senators and 110 Members of the House, sent a letter urging the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw its proposed public charge rule, warning it would harm U.S. citizen children, immigrant communities, and public health systems nationwide. The letter explains with these changes, families will hesitate to access essential health care, nutrition and early childhood programs—this will disproportionately impact citizen children and women who are the majority of primary caretakers. The letter was led by Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chair Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Grace Meng (NY-06), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke (NY-03), and CHC Vice Chair of Policy Rep. Robert Menendez (NJ-08), in the House, alongside Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).

"The proposed public charge rule will lead to mass uncertainty, disparate and arbitrary outcomes for individuals applying for permanent status or admission into our country, and undue harm to U.S. citizens," wrote the lawmakers.

The Trump administration's proposal would rescind the clear 2022 public charge regulations and replace them with vague, undefined standards, leading to haphazard decision-making, fear, and widespread confusion. Past public charge expansions have driven families, including those with U.S. citizen children, away from lawful access to health care, nutrition, and early childhood programs.

"The chilling effects triggered by expansions of public charge interpretation are well-documented and severe. Research following [past public charge restrictions] showed that confusion about eligibility led large numbers of eligible immigrant families — including U.S. citizen children — to forgo health insurance, nutrition supports, and early childhood programs vital to healthy development," wrote the lawmakers.

The letter argues that the proposal contradicts congressional intent, undermines the rule of law, and risks triggering a massive chilling effect that would worsen child health outcomes, increase food insecurity, and shift costs to states and local governments. Lawmakers urge DHS to withdraw the proposal in full and maintain the 2022 regulations, which provide clarity, fairness, and consistency for families and adjudicators alike.

You can read the full letter here. 

In addition to letter leads Teresa Leger Fernández, Adriano Espaillat, Grace Meng, Yvette Clarke, and Robert Menendez, Mazie Hirono, Alex Padilla, and Cory Booker, the letter was signed by: Lloyd Doggett, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Hank Johnson, Dan Goldman, Robert Garcia, Danny Davis, Rashida Tlaib, Delia Ramirez, Dave Min, Jimmy Gomez, Juan Vargas, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Suzanne Bonamici, Nikki Budzinski, Luis Correa, Betty McCollum, Tammy Duckworth, Wesley Bell, Cleo Fields, Mark Takano, Andrea Salinas, Nydia Velázquez, Sara Jacobs, Paul Tonko, Adam Schiff, Gwen Moore, Lori Trahan, Lateefah Simon, Yassamin Ansari, Mark Pocan, Terri Sewell, Ilhan Omar, Maxine Dexter, Jill Tokuda, Ben Ray Luján, Melanie Stansbury, Diana DeGette, Ted Lieu, Chellie Pingree, Jesús García, Darren Soto, Marc Veasey, Valerie Foushee, Ritchie Torres, Becca Balint, Julia Brownley, Dwight Evans, Jan Schakowsky, Doris Matsui, Pramila Jayapal, Jerrold Nadler, Stephen Lynch, Salud Carbajal, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Robin Kelly, Greg Casar, Sylvia Garcia, Jonathan Jackson, Nanette Diaz Barragán, Joaquin Castro, Linda Sánchez, André Carson, John Garamendi, Gabe Amo, Judy Chu, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Norma Torres, Zoe Lofgren, Steven Horsford, Frederica Wilson, Jennifer McClellan, Mike Quigley, Deborah Ross, Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Lauren Underwood, Sarah McBride, Jasmine Crockett, James McGovern, Summer Lee, Ron Wyden, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ro Khanna, Lizzie Fletcher, Kathy Castor, Sean Casten, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Mike Thompson, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Luz Rivas, Edward Markey, Patty Murray, Joyce Beatty, Seth Moulton, Mary Gay Scanlon, Peter Welch, Mark DeSaulnier, Veronica Escobar, Adam Smith, Bobby Scott, Julie Johnson, Richard Durbin, Christopher Coons, Emily Randall, Elizabeth Warren, Madeleine Dean, Jacky Rosen, Michael Bennet, Angie Craig, Kelly Morrison, Timothy Kennedy, Hillary Scholten, Brittany Pettersen, Bennie Thompson, LaMonica McIver, Gabe Vasquez, Jeffrey Merkley, Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Kweisi Mfume, and Adelita Grijalva.