March 2020

After the Supreme Court lifted several injunctions, the new public charge rule went into effect on February 24, 2020. In terms of immigration, a “public charge” is a person who relies upon government assistance because they aren’t self-sufficient. According to USCIS, the public charge ground of inadmissibility is more than 100 years old, but the new rule gives officers a much more expansive realm of authority when determining whether an applicant is or could become a public charge.