FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Melissa Stek, Communications Consultant, melissa@mountgem.com
Tom Salyers, Director of Communications, tsalyers@clasp.org
Washington, D.C., November 19, 2025—Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a proposed rule that would rescind the 2022 public charge policy and provide the agency discretion to deny green cards based on factors such as an applicant’s health and past or potential use of any federal health or social services program. The proposal will have an outsized and harmful impact on children in immigrant families, the majority of whom are U.S. citizens.
This is the latest in the Trump Administration’s efforts to destabilize immigrant families, including those who are lawfully present, by further expanding restrictions that impede their ability to access basic health care, nutrition assistance, and other critical supports. But while immigrant families account for about 27 percent of the U.S. population, they make up less than five percent of those enrolled in SNAP food assistance.
Members of the Children Thrive Action Network (CTAN) issued the following responses:
Wendy Cervantes, Director of Immigration and Immigrant Families, Center for Law and Social Policy:
“This is yet another attack by the federal government on children, threatening their well-being and long-term development. If separating families through traumatizing raids wasn’t enough, this rule could force millions of immigrant families to choose between meeting the needs of their children—such as taking them to the doctor or putting food on the table—and trying to secure a more stable immigration status. The chilling effect will be widespread, with families reluctant to enroll their kids in services for which they qualify that support their education, well-being, and healthy development, out of fear that it will be used against them when applying for a green card. As advocates for kids, we will do everything in our power to put a stop to this proposal and ensure that providers and families have access to accurate information.”
Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, Executive Director, Children’s HealthWatch:
“Overwhelming and consistent scientific evidence documents the health harms of expanding the public charge rule for children and families. This proposal would further perpetuate discrimination and complicate access to vital, health-promoting programs by inducing fear and confusion—even among families who are eligible for support. Our research demonstrated that the 2017 public charge rule drove a measurable decline in well-child visits among children of immigrant mothers compared to children of U.S. born mothers. These visits are vital for identifying and treating health and development issues and ensuring timely vaccinations, which protect both individual children and community health. This proposed rule ignores science and will inflict demonstrable harm to children’s health and development, affecting our country now and well into our future.”
Trudy Taylor Smith, Senior Administrator of Policy and Advocacy, Children’s Defense Fund-Texas:
“This new public charge rule is intended to create chaos and fear for families and to set up a system in which decisions are driven by political, racial, and personal biases. In its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, DHS states directly that this policy change will cause U.S. citizens in mixed-status families to disenroll from or forgo enrolling in public benefits programs for which they are eligible. Let’s be clear about this: intimidating the children and spouses of immigrants to keep them from accessing essential resources like nutrition assistance and health insurance means taking food out of children’s mouths. It means depriving them of access to health care, shelter, and the other essentials that lay the foundation for their lifelong thriving. This policy threatens children’s health, sets up barriers to economic mobility, and represents yet another attempt by the current administration to target lawful immigrants and the communities where they live and work. Now is the time for Congress and other key policymakers to stand up and protect our communities from this harmful policy.”
Martin Kim, Director of Immigration Advocacy, Advancing Justice | AAJC:
“Everyone deserves access to affordable healthcare, economic opportunities, and the ability to care for their children, regardless of race, wealth, or immigration status. This proposed change is meant to scare immigrant families, including Asian Americans and other immigrants of color, leaving them without medical care when sick, food on the table, and other fundamental services. Instead of attacking communities just looking to care for their children, we urge policymakers to expand pathways to citizenship and family reunification, which will benefit all Americans.”
Mel Wilson, Senior Policy Advisor, National Association of Social Workers (NASW):
“The administration’s proposed public charge rules change is another example of the harm caused by their mass deportation and anti-immigrant policies. Access to health care and related essential services—especially for children—should be a fundamental right. Any attempt to deny lawfully present immigrants life and well-being sustaining assistance must be soundly rejected. NASW stands with immigrant communities and advocates in strong opposition to proposed public charge rules change.”
Bruce Lesley, President, First Focus on Children:
“This proposal is morally indefensible and economically reckless. DHS openly acknowledges that this rule is designed to drive families—including U.S. citizen children—off health care, food assistance, and housing programs. In no version of the United States that values children could such a policy ever be justified.”
Angel Padilla, Vice President of Strategy and Policy at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC):
“The Trump Administration attacks children. It attacks women and families. It does it with guns and tanks and with administrative weapons. In its latest act of cruelty, it is resurrecting its use of public charge to go after immigrants and their families. We have seen how this policy causes harm to families, spreading confusion and fear in immigrant communities. As a result, children—a majority of whom are U.S. citizens—will end up losing access to basic services like health care and food assistance. Anyone who cares about the well-being of children should be outraged by this proposal.”
Liza M. Davis, Advocacy Director for Children in Immigrant Families at The Children’s Partnership:
“The proposed changes to the public charge rule threaten to reverse critical progress made under the Biden-era policy, which provided much needed clarity that immigrant families could safely access essential programs—such as health care, nutrition assistance, and housing supports—without jeopardizing their immigration status. Removing this clarity will create confusion and fear, leading many families to avoid the very services their children need and are legally entitled to, including U.S. born children. In California, where nearly half of our nine million children are part of an immigrant family, this chilling effect will have serious consequences for children’s health: fewer doctor visits, missed vaccinations, untreated illnesses, and increased food and housing insecurity. These changes will harm children’s well-being, undermine public health, and push families back into the shadows at the very moment when stable access to care and support is most critical.”
Xochitl Oseguera, Vice President, MamásConPoder and MomsRising:
“This proposed rule is a cruel, senseless, counterproductive attack on immigrant children, the moms and families who love and care for them, and the communities that benefit from the hard work and many contributions those families provide. It is designed to invoke fear and create chaos, to exacerbate hardship and hunger. It sends the message that, for the immigrant families our communities count on, even if you have legal status, you will be penalized for accessing public programs designed to ensure children and families have the tools and opportunities to thrive. America’s moms reject this rule. Moms want every immigrant child and family to be treated with compassion, dignity, and respect.”
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The Children Thrive Action Network (CTAN) is a national network of children’s advocacy organizations and service providers committed to protecting and defending children in immigrant families, guided by policy principles to ensure that immigration policies safeguard children’s health, safety, and well-being. Since 2020, CTAN has urged federal and state officials to advance the “best interest of the child” in all policies and to reject policies that put children in harm’s way and undermine their safety.
