Original Date Announced

The Department of Homeland Security issued a proposed rule that would rescind most of the 2022 regulations regarding the public charge ground of inadmissibility, stating that these regulations were too restrictive and inconsistent with congressional intent. The proposed rule would eliminate some of the definitions adopted in 2022, empowering DHS agents to employ more discretion in determining which noncitizens are a "public charge" or are "likely to become a public charge." The proposed rule states that DHS considers "any dependence on a means-tested public benefit to meet the [noncitizen]'s needs" to make someone a public charge. The proposed rule would also remove the list of categories of noncitizens exempt from the public charge rule from federal regulations, alleging that it is redundant with the USCIS Policy Manual and Form I-485. Designation as a public charge can bar noncitizens from receiving visas or adjusting their status to become lawful permanent residents.

DHS notes that it intends to "formulate appropriate policy and interpretive tools that will guide public charge inadmissibility determinations while empowering officers to consider: 1) the mandatory statutory factors in section 212(a)(4)(B) of the INA . . . 2) all individualized case-specific factors and circumstances relevant to an alien's case; and 3) any empirical data relevant to an alien's self-sufficiency."

Rather than rescinding the 2022 regulatory text regarding public charge bonds, the proposed rule would add language that "receipt of any means-tested public benefit, or being otherwise noncompliant with any condition of the public charge bond, results in a breach of that bond" and would eliminate language authorizing USCIS to cancel a public charge bond if a noncitizen is determined to be "not likely at any time to become a public charge."

Comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking are due December 19, 2025. Comments on the information collection are due January 18, 2026.

Trump 2.0 [ID #2077]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.07.20 Final Rule on Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility

DHS published a final rule, effective September 18, 2026, that replaces the Biden administration's public charge framework with a broader, discretionary standard. Under the new rule, immigration officers may consider any means-tested public benefits an applicant receives—including Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance—along with the totality of the applicant's circumstances in assessing whether they are likely to become a public charge. The preamble to the rule says subregulatory guidance not subjected to notice-and-comment will be issued prior to the effective date "to inform, but not prescribe, the outcome of USCIS officers’ public charge inadmissibility determinations made under this final rule in the totality of the circumstances." DHS says the rule better reflects congressional intent to promote immigrant self-sufficiency, while critics argue it grants excessive discretion and will deter eligible immigrants from accessing essential public benefits.