During the Covid-19 pandemic, families are not seeking benefits for which they qualify for fear that a Trump administration rule will affect an immigrant family member’s chances of obtaining a green card or US citizenship.
A study by the Urban Institute, an economic and social policy think tank, found that about 1 in 7 adults in immigrant families, 13.6 percent, reported not participating in programs like Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and housing grants last year – even though they or their family members were eligible – for concerns it would affect their legalization efforts.
Karin, 42, who asked to be identified by her first name only to avoid government attention, is one of them. Karin, who works as a housekeeper, lived in Los Angeles for 15 years after fleeing the violence in Guatemala. She and her two older daughters are trying to find a way to get work permits or green cards; her youngest daughter was born in the US.
She was reluctant to apply for Medi-Cal, the Medicaid program in California, even though it’s available to eligible state residents regardless of legal status.
Under the Trump administration’s rule changes, immigrants seeking legal status whose families participate in government-funded programs could be considered “public charges” if officials decide they are likely to need public assistance.
The change came after the Trump administration expanded the definition of the term. The Department of Homeland Security had previously defined a “ public charge ” as someone who depended on financial assistance or government-funded long-term institutional care, but the Trump-era rule expanded the definition to include additional benefits, such as food stamps. Medicaid emergencies, certain prescription drug grants, and housing vouchers.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order calling for an “immediate review of the agency’s actions for inadmissibility of public charges.”
Karin said she would rather remain uninsured until the Biden administration explicitly says that signing up for state public health insurance would not classify people as “public charges” and jeopardize her legalization efforts.
The Municipal Institute found that nearly 28 percent of immigrants in families with members who did not have a green card avoided a range of public benefits for which they were eligible because of the rule’s “chilling effect.”
Eliseo Lopez, 72, a handyman, has lived in Los Angeles for three decades. He’s struggling to get enough work to make ends meet during the pandemic, and age-related conditions make it harder to keep working.
As a permanent resident, Lopez is eligible for retirement benefits. But he declined to apply last year for fear he could jeopardize his wife’s chances of getting a green card.
“We have stopped all my wife’s paperwork for immigration because of Trump’s anti-immigrant behavior. We always stayed on the sidelines and never asked anyone for help,” Lopez said in Spanish. “I just wouldn’t do anything that could potentially deport her.”
His daughter, who is a US citizen, helped them financially after they ran out of savings during the pandemic. Due to the family’s mixed immigration status, they were not given Covid-19 incentive checks.
Lopez said that now that Biden is president, he is more comfortable resuming his wife’s legalization process.
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Hamutal Bernstein, the study’s co-author, said, “I think a very strong information and education effort will be needed, given the long period of time and misinformation and fear and confusion surrounding this rule.”
Bernstein found that other factors also prevent families from applying for benefits, including the fear of sharing information between immigration services, language barriers, and challenges navigating enrollment.
‘There is always fear’
Karla, 39, an immigrant from Mexico who asked to be identified by her first name only to avoid government attention, lost her daycare job during the pandemic and cleaned houses to make ends meet.
Her husband is an essential worker who delivers products to supermarkets. They have three children.
“We just live to have enough money for rent and food,” Karla said in Spanish. The only additional help she remembers receiving to support her three teenage boys, all of whom are US citizens, are meals through the state’s school lunch program. “There is always fear, but sometimes the need wins and you apply for certain programs while you fear it will affect your legal status in the future.”
Karla said she wished she had health insurance after undergoing traumatic dental surgery two years ago.
“I just need healthy teeth that I can use to eat properly,” she said. “I hardly go to the doctor because I don’t have access to it. If something hurts badly, I have no choice but to go to the emergency room.”
Karla said she has considered enrolling in the California public health insurance program, but the application process has been difficult.
Bernstein said: ‘To complement everything the government is doing to undo the rule, it will also be very important to intentionally educate, communicate and connect with immigrant families to inform them of the policy changes – too. to try to restore confidence in some of those fears of participating in programs for which they or their children may qualify. “
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