Original Date Announced

After issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking on November 19, 2025, DHS published a final rule 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 that subregulatory guidance not subject 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 claims that 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.

Trump 2.0 [ID #2077]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.08.18 USCIS Policy Alert - Guidance Addressing Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Alert announcing revised guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding the public charge ground of inadmissibility under section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

The guidance offers information for making public charge determinations under a “totality of the circumstances” analysis, including consideration of mandatory statutory factors and current or past receipt of means-tested public benefits. USCIS also reiterates that no single factor (other than the lack of a sufficient Affidavit of Support, when required) can be the sole basis for finding that an individual is likely at any time to become a public charge.

The revised guidance supersedes the entirety of Volume 8, Part G–Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility of the USCIS Policy Manual, which is linked here.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.08.18 News Alert: USCIS Issues Guidance on Making Public Charge Inadmissibility Determination

USCIS issued a news alert describing new guidance issued for how officers should determine whether someone applying for permanent residence is likely to become a “public charge.” Starting September 18, 2026, officers may consider a range of factors, including an applicant’s age, health, family status, finances, education, skills, and use of means-tested public benefits, such as cash assistance for income maintenance, housing assistance, food stamps, financial aid for college, or any other similar benefit.

The guidance also identifies categories of immigrants who are exempt from the public-charge determination, including refugees, asylees, and certain victims of trafficking or crime. Applicants who are found inadmissible solely on public-charge grounds may also be given the opportunity to post a public-charge bond.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.09.17 Complaint - Make the Road v. Mullin

Make the Road New York, the New York Legal Assistance Group, the Association to Benefit Children, and African Communities Together sued DHS under the APA, arguing that its new public-charge rule and the later-issued policy guidance unlawfully expand the concept of "public charge" to cover benefits such as SNAP, Medicaid, housing assistance, childcare, and tax credits, including benefits received by U.S.-citizen children. They rely in part on Second Circuit precedent holding that Congress ratified a “settled meaning” of public charge under the 1996 statute: "a person likely to be unable to support themselves in the future and to rely on the government for subsistence." The plaintiffs also challenge DHS's elimination of defined eligibility criteria in favor of highly individualized, case-by-case discretion and allege that the rule was motivated by hostility toward low-income immigrants. Finally, they challenge the adoption of the subregulatory guidance without notice and comment. Make the Road New York v. United States Department of Homeland Security (S.D.N.Y. 2026).

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