In the next few weeks, the Trump administration is likely to propose making it more difficult for legal immigrants to gain US citizenship or get a green card if they have previously used certain public welfare programs, including Obamacare, according to NBC News.
The move would not need the approval of Congress and is part of the effort to limit the number of immigrants given legal status in the US every year by Stephen Miller, a White House senior adviser. Although details of the new proposal are still being finalized, NBC News claims that legal immigrants currently living in the US, whose household members have used Obamacare, food stamps, or other benefits, such as children’s health insurance, may be hindered from gaining full legal status.
Public health researchers, together with immigration advocates and lawyers, say it would mark the biggest change to the nation’s legal immigration system for several decades, which could affect over 20 million immigrants. Critics say the proposal would be particularly tough on immigrants working in jobs that do not offer enough pay to support families, and those immigrant households earning 250% of the poverty level would face rejection.
The White House Office of Management and Budget has been sent a plan, according to NBC’s sources, which is the last step before the rule is published in the federal register.