February 24, 2020: The new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) public charge rule took effect nationwide on Monday, February 24, 2020. Two decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court — a January 2020 decision that lifted the nationwide injunction and a February 2020 decision that lifted the Illinois injunction — cleared the way for DHS’ U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to start applying the final rule’s provisions. FRAC criticized the January 2020 Supreme Court decision to allow implementation of the rule change — which, among other harms, chills immigrant families’ access to SNAP and other public benefits — to go forward while legal challenges to the rule are heard on the merits.
Trump Administration attacks — through administrative actions, divisive rhetoric, ICE raids, and other means — on immigrant families have created an environment of heightened fear and confusion.
This has contributed to a chilling effect on the use of nutrition and other critical assistance programs that extends far beyond the individuals and families who are directly impacted, resulting in a poorer, sicker, and hungrier nation.
Learn more about opportunities to help immigrant families access SNAP and other nutrition resources.
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Read FRAC’s February 2020 Implementation of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Public Charge Rule: FAQs for Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Stakeholders.
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Check out FRAC’s February 2020 fact sheet The New Public Charge Rule Does Not Include Free and Reduced-Price School Meals
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Read FRAC’s February 2020 Update for Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Stakeholders: Unpacking the Three Public Charge Rules.
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See FRAC’s recent post Public Charge: Pushing back in the Wake of the Supreme Court Decision.
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See D.C. Hunger Solutions’ Public Charge & SNAP: What You Need to Know.
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Read the amicus brief from FRAC, the Center for Law and Social Policy, and the National Housing Law Project identifying the likely harm of the DHS public charge rule change on food security, health, and housing.
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See FRAC’s DHS public charge rule summary and actions to take.
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Watch the webinars: Immigrant Families’ Access to Nutrition: Threats and Strategies to Push Back(Aug 14, 2019); Breakfast Matters Webinar: Supporting Immigrant Families recording password: 3sRy7UYU (December 12, 2019).
FRAC serves as the nutrition lead on the steering committee for the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign (PIF), which is mobilizing a nationwide resistance effort to reject attacks on the nation’s health and well-being. Join PIF to stay current on this and other attacks on immigrant families.