​From The Law Offices of Pooja Sethi, PLLC
      On September 27th, 2018, the Trump Administration proposed to redefine “public charge”, which could deny citizenship status for many.  23.3% (or 52.3 million) people living in the USA rely on government assistance programs, such as Medicaid, Social Security, welfare, food stamps, etc. On September 27th, 2018 President Donald Trump announced a new rule which will undoubtedly impact the number of people that count on these programs. This rule regarding public charge states that any legal immigrant who wishes to change their status must have ever availed of a public charge, otherwise known as government assistance. This would mean that factors such as age (being over the age of 65), needing assistance to provide food and shelter, unable to have private health insurance, and other such factors will play a part in whether an immigration application will be approved or not. To back up this directive, the Trump administration has cited a 2012 study conducted by an organization that wants to add more restrictions upon immigrants.
     The regulation is based on a law dating back over a hundred years. However, under the previous law, only a couple of factors - cash benefits and any long-term hospitalization - regarding government assistance are looked at in applications for status change. The new law would include denying status change to immigrants who need assistance with food stamps, tax credits, healthcare, and housing.
            This new rule would affect immigrants’ access to welfare services and access to affordable healthcare. Many families, where the children are U.S. born citizens and parents are foreign born, would need to choose between providing healthcare for their children or staying together as a family. As a result, this ruling will impact children heavily.
            This regulation would impact people with health conditions who rely on Medicaid to survive. Without the health care they receive from the government, they will have to pay out-of-pocket anytime they need to see a doctor or get a prescription medicine. Many of the individuals impacted by the rule have been in the U.S. for at least a decade and are applying for a green card or are applying for a visa status change.
           This order has already had a significant effect on food stamp recipients. Since the leaked documents of this rule have been released, the number of immigrants cancelling their food stamps has dramatically increased. This rule has created a deep sense of fear among immigrants who worry that they may not even have enough money to put food on the table.
           The Public Charge rule, which intends to prevent both legal and illegal immigration, would increase the tax burden of individual taxpayers. This would place an undue burden on immigrants, who tend to work more hours and jobs than native-born citizens. According to the bipartisan organization FWD.us, 66% of Immigrants work compared to 62% for American-born citizens. Due to this, immigrants, on average, pay a larger share of taxes. Because immigrants pay more, the economy is more stabilized. If immigrants were to stop coming into the USA due to rules such as this, it would cause a great deal of harm to the economy. As a result, Americans would be paying $1.46 for each dollar they save.
           Many have criticized the directive, including Marielena Hincapie from the National Immigration Law Center, who says that what matters most is how an immigrant would add to their community, not whether they can or cannot afford basic needs. Other critics including Julie Linton, of the American Academy of Pediatrics Immigrant Health Special Interest Group, has stated that this rule will impact a nation that is made up of immigrants. Yet other critics, such as researchers at the Migration Policy Institute said that this would reduce immigration into the U.S., while also bringing down the non-white population.
            While many will agree or disagree with this rule, it may be placed into law. The rule was published on October 10th and has a sixty day comment period wherein both opponents and supporters can voice their opinions. You can comment until December 10th on this website: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/10/2018-21106/inadmissibility-on-public-charge-grounds. Until then, we can only speculate as to how it will impact immigrants living here and also those who want to enter the country.
 
Written by Shireen Kahlon of
The Law Offices of Pooja Sethi, PLLC

Election Day is finally here! Both candidates for Texas senate - Democrat Beto O’Rourke and Republican Ted Cruz - have campaigned all they could to allow voters to get a strong grasp as to where they stand with issues relating to immigration. Although both candidates have polar opposite views on immigration, they do both agree that immigration is a key topic to campaign on. Both have stated their beliefs and how they would handle issues revolving​around immigration as senator.
 

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​CHILD SEPARATION
            O’Rourke has spoken out against Trump’s policy of separating children from their parents after crossing the border. He has stated that instead of treating immigrants in such a cruel and inhumane manner which can have devastating life-long effects including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we should have a more welcoming attitude towards legal immigrants.
            O’Rourke proved himself on the topic of child separation. On June 17th, he led a Father’s Day march to the Tornillo detention center to bring constituents’ attention on the children who are being separated from their parents at the border. Additionally, he has worked with republican Senator John Cornyn on introducing legislation to increase security and staff along the border of Mexico and Texas.
 
            . In June, Senator Cruz introduced a bill titled “Protect Kids and Parents Act” which he states would attempt to keep families together. He said that under this bill, it would take less than 14 days to determine whether someone seeking asylum could legally stay in the USA. He mentions that the problem leading to child separation is that there are too many immigration cases and not enough being done to solve them. Under this act, asylum cases would take priority and swift action would be taken on each case.  This bill however, is not supported by Immigration Attorneys because it would take a great deal longer than fourteen days to prepare any decent asylum claim, and thus does not really help potential Asylees present their best case.
 
H1 B VISAS
            In addition to the borders, O’Rourke has vowed to protect H-1B Visa holders. During his term thus far, President Donald Trump has stated he wants to revise the rules for H-1B visas to make it so less people can come in using the visa. O’Rourke has strongly disagreed with this stating that he plans to expand, rather than decrease, the program and promised to work towards this goal as senator.
            Contrarily, Cruz has spoken against companies hiring H-1B Visa’s. He has said that when companies hire people with H-1B’s, they are taking away jobs from Americans. In December of 2015, Cruz co-sponsored a bill titled the “The American Jobs First Act of 2015”. This bill would force companies to pay a minimum wage of $100,000 for all H-1B employees. In turn, this would decrease the number of employees being hired from countries such as India, China, South Korea, and Canada as these companies would not be able to afford paying such a high wage.
 
DREAMERS
            Additionally, as senator, O’Rourke has promised to fight for DREAMers - people who are eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, otherwise known as DACA. As a house of representatives member, O’Rourke has sponsored or co-sponsored multiple acts in support of DREAMers. He introduced “Protect DREAMers Confidentiality Act of 2017” which would prevent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from sharing confidential information of any DREAMer to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In addition to this act, he co-sponsored the “DREAM Act” which would allow removal of statuses for either long-term residents or those who entered the USA illegally as children. On multiple occasions, he has spoken to protect all DREAMers living in Texas.
            Cruz has sharply disagreed with his opponent. Instead, he has taken a stance similar to that of the president to state that it does not matter how or what age an immigrant comes into the country - if they came here illegally then they should be deported. He supported a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton which would not allow anyone else to sign up to DACA. Cruz has stated that DACA is going against the law and spoke out multiple times against President Obama for signing DACA into existence.
 
BORDER WALL
            During the 2016 presidential campaign and after winning the election, President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for a border wall. He claims this wall will help prevent immigrants from entering into the country illegally from Mexico. This border wall has caused a debate between Republican and Democrat politicians alike. Representative O’Rourke has stated, on multiple occasions, how he stands strongly against this border wall. He has said there are other ways to prevent illegal immigration than using billions of tax-payer money to build a wall.
            On the other hand, Senator Cruz has spoken in strong support for the proposed wall. On multiple occasions, Cruz has said how Americans, especially Texans, are not safe with open borders. The incumbent senator believes although the border wall would be a start in the right direction, extra protections must be taken place to protect the border.
 
                        Throughout this election cycle, we have seen the disagreements and the few agreements between the two candidates. We’ve seen both candidates give their all to winning the senate in Texas. Could this be the first time in 24 years that Texas turns blue or will republicans remain control over the lone star state? We’ll have to wait until Tuesday evening to find out what will happen. Either way, we’ve got to applaud Beto O’Rourke and democrats for putting up competition, one that the state hasn’t seen in decades from the party. This might be the most important election of our lifetime, for both conservatives and liberals, so make a plan to head to your nearest polling station between 7 AM - 7 PM on Tuesday.

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