The policy, known as "public charge," appeared on Thursday in the Federal Register. It will be formally published on July 20 and take effect Sept. 18. Under the policy, applicants for green cards have to show they wouldn't be burdens to the country or "public charges."
The policy was first implemented in February 2020 as one of President Donald Trump's moves to limit legal immigration during his first administration, but it was reversed after Democratic President Joe Biden came to power.
Its return comes when the Republican administration is implementing a hard-line policy to curb both illegal and legal immigration, and when the cost of healthcare and food is rising.
An information packet and an American flag are placed on a chair before the start of a naturalization ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Miami Field Office in 2018, in Miami. Photo by AP
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," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a post published on its X account.
