If Donald Trump has his way — a new policy would make millions of immigrants who are in the country legally, ineligible for citizenship.
Yes, that’s correct. Illegal immigrants are not the only villains now. The Trump administration is now turning its attention to LEGAL immigrants.
NBC News, citing four sources with knowledge of the plan, reported that the Trump administration is expected to issue a proposal in the coming weeks that would make it harder for legal immigrants to become citizens or get green cards if they, or any member of their household, have ever used Obamacare, children’s health insurance, food stamps, and other benefits.
The proposal is part of White House adviser Stephen Miller’s broader plan to reduce the number of immigrants who obtain legal status.
Here’s the kicker: The plan would not need Congressional approval. The administration likely intends to implement it by redefining “public charge,” an obscure statute of immigration law that allows the United States to turn away immigrants deemed a burden to society.
Immigration lawyers and advocates and public health researchers say it would be the biggest change to the legal immigration system in decades and estimates that more than 20 million immigrants could be affected. They say it would fall particularly hard on immigrants working jobs that don’t pay enough to support their families.
This policy would essentially declare that anyone who has lived in poverty, even for a short amount of time, deserves to be punished for it.
Trump apologists often defend his administration’s attitude toward immigrants by saying that it’s only targeting people in the country illegally. What’s the excuse now?
If you have any interaction whatsoever with immigrants in your daily lives (and it’s pretty much a guarantee that you do, whether by two or three degrees of separation or directly), please stop trying to defend what this White House continues to try and do, and please start acknowledging the undercurrent behind all these moves.
Not for me, not for anyone in particular. But for the sake of all that is decent and right. This goes well beyond 401(ks, jobs reports, approval ratings, and GDP growth.
Is a little compassion too much to ask for?