U.S. — The Department of Homeland Security is rescinding a 2022 Biden-era regulation that narrowed the application of the "public charge" test and reinstating a broader rule that allows immigration officers to consider an applicant's use of Medicaid, food stamps, and housing assistance when determining eligibility for permanent legal status. The rule was filed for public inspection on Thursday and is scheduled to take effect on September 18.

Under the new policy, immigration officers will evaluate whether a noncitizen is likely to become a public charge at any time in the future by assessing their use of means-tested taxpayer-funded benefits. Officers will conduct case-by-case reviews that consider an applicant's age, health, family status, assets, financial resources, education, and skills. The rule applies to noncitizens inside the U.S. applying to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence and to noncitizens seeking admission to the United States as immigrants or nonimmigrants, unless specifically exempted by Congress.

Historically, the public charge test has exempted refugees, asylees, Special Immigrant Juveniles, certain trafficking and crime victims, and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petitioners. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials stated that benefits received by an applicant's family members will not be treated as the applicant's own, though officers may consider them when assessing the applicant's overall financial situation. The 2022 Biden-era rule had limited the scope of benefits DHS could consider to primarily cash welfare payments for basic living expenses and long-term institutional care paid for by the federal government.

USCIS will not begin applying the new public-charge framework for 60 days after the rule takes effect on September 18, allowing time to update forms, guidance, and internal procedures. For applications filed before the rule becomes operational, USCIS will only assess means-tested public benefits received on or after the operational date. The agency plans to publish a revised Form I-485 for people seeking to register permanent residence or adjust status, and older versions of the form postmarked or submitted electronically on or after the rule's operational date will no longer be accepted.

Joseph B. Edlow, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, defended the policy shift in a statement, saying, "The federal government is reaffirming the requirement of self-reliance, protecting public resources and ending policies that encouraged dependency on the backs of hard-working American taxpayers." Edlow added, "Under President Trump, USCIS is restoring the basic principle that immigrants must be able to support themselves."

Critics strongly condemned the move. Adriana Cadena, executive director at the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition, stated, "This regulation is a direct assault on immigrant families, and a threat to our country’s health and economic security." She added, "The Trump administration is basing immigration decisions on bias and politics, regardless of the resulting harm." Sarah Krieger, senior policy counsel at the National Immigration Law Center, said, "With this new rule, they are sowing fear and chaos to ultimately reshape America into a country where only the few who are white and ultra-wealthy are welcome." Krieger also asserted, "The rule is not just deeply harmful, it also violates the law."

The current action returns DHS policy closer to a 2019 final rule issued under the Trump administration, which allowed officers to consider a wider range of public benefits, including SNAP (food stamps), most Medicaid, and certain housing programs. Prior to that, the department followed 1999 guidance that defined a public charge as someone primarily dependent on the government for subsistence. DHS began applying the 2019 rule in February 2020 after the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect during ongoing litigation.

During the period when the 2019 rule was in effect, DHS identified only five cases of denials or notices of intent to deny based on the full public charge analysis, and those cases were later reopened or rescinded. Between fiscal years 2020 and 2024, DHS reported that public charge denials of adjustment-of-status applications ranged from 41 to 95 annually. A 2020 study from the Migration Policy Institute estimated that no more than 167,000 people could be determined ineligible for a green card based on their current use of a listed benefit under the 2019 rule.

However, broader impacts were anticipated. Manatt Health estimated that the 2019 public charge policy would have deterred as many as 26 million people from seeking healthcare, food, housing, or other aid. In a November 2025 proposal, DHS itself estimated that roughly 588,000 adjustment-of-status applicants each year would be subject to public-charge review under the new framework.

The department also determined in that proposal that the policy changes could lead about 950,000 people in immigrant households to disenroll from or forgo public benefits. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 22.8 million noncitizens living in the U.S. in 2023.

The reinstated public charge rule significantly broadens the criteria immigration officers can use to deny green cards or admission, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of applicants annually and influencing benefit participation among millions more in immigrant households. The policy represents a reversal of the Biden administration’s 2022 effort to narrow the test and aligns with the Trump-era framework that sparked legal challenges and public health concerns over reduced access to essential services.

While actual denials under the 2019 rule were rare, research and agency estimates suggest the policy’s chilling effect led many immigrant families to avoid critical aid even when eligible. The new rule takes effect amid ongoing debates over immigration enforcement, economic self-sufficiency, and the role of public assistance, with implementation set to begin after a 60-day preparation period following the September 18 effective date.