The public-charge revisions made final by the Trump administration in February of 2020 stand as perhaps one of its most significant and controversial immigration policy changes. The rule makes it more difficult for immigrants to become lawful permanent residents—i.e, getting a green card—if they participate in a range of federal means-tested public-benefit programs.

Researchers, service providers, and immigrant-rights advocates have long predicted that sweeping revisions by the Trump administration to the definition of who constitutes a public charge would deter large numbers of immigrant-led households from using public benefits for which they are eligible.

Recently released U.S. Census Bureau data offer the first opportunity to see if the predictions were accurate, and indeed the drop in usage by noncitizens and their U.S.-born children of federal means-tested public-benefit programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), or Medicaid has been dramatic. Based on their analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), Migration Policy Institute (MPI) researchers find that during the first three years of the Trump administration, participation in TANF, SNAP, and Medicaid declined twice as fast among noncitizens as citizens.

The data affirm the results of others’ research on the rule’s chilling effects. In a nationwide survey conducted during December 2018 and repeated in December 2019, about one-fifth of adults in low-income immigrant families reported withdrawing from or not enrolling in SNAP, Medicaid, and similar benefit programs due to fears of immigration consequences related to the public-charge rule. Those who had more information about the rule were more likely to withdraw or not apply for benefits.

Read the full article about declining public-benefit use among non-citizens by Randy Capps, Michael Fix, and Jeanne Batalova at Migration Policy Institute.