What social welfare benefits in the United States may affect immigrants?

Some people worry that food stamps will affect the status of immigrants, or whether accepting social welfare will affect immigrants.

At present, it is rumored that the Trump administration has drawn up standards for the repatriation of foreigners. Possible reasons include receiving social welfare assistance within five years after entering the United States, or receiving a certain amount of social assistance, including food stamps, temporary assistance for poor families (TANF) and Medicaid programs. Chen Chengfeng, project manager of Hunger Free NYC, an anti-hunger organization in new york, said that immigrating to the United States cannot be a burden, but the definition of "public burden" needs to be revised.

In the immigration law of the United States 100 years, "public fees" have always been the legal reasons for "prohibition of entry" and "deportation", and foreigners who become "public burdens" may not adjust their status and become legal permanent residents. Because the basic spirit of immigration law is that we don't want American social welfare to be exhausted by foreigners, but Americans can't enjoy it. However, accepting public welfare does not mean that the foreigner will automatically become a "public burden".

In order to make people have a clearer understanding of "public burden", this paper extracts the explanation of "public burden" from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of the US Department of Justice, so that people can make wise choices on whether to apply for some public benefits.

What is "public burden"

As far as the definition of "public burden" is concerned, as early as President Clinton's time, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of the US Department of Justice put forward some suggestions: "public burden" refers to "foreigners who mainly rely on the government to make a living", which is mainly manifested in receiving public subsidies to maintain their income sources, or relying on the government for long-term hospitalization (including nursing homes and hospitals)

However, government officials generally do not only decide that this person is a "public burden", but also consider many factors, including your age, health status, family status, assets, resources, economic status, education level and skills, to decide whether you may live on social assistance in the future.