DHS could weigh immigrants' use of Medicaid, food and housing help in green card decisions

In a move that will place hundreds of thousands of green card applicants under broader scrutiny each year, the Trump administration is allowing immigration officers to consider whether some applicants have used taxpayer-funded benefits — including Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance — when determining whether they qualify for permanent legal status.

The Department of Homeland Security is poised to rescind a 2022 Biden-era regulation narrowing how officers apply a long-standing "public charge" test — an immigration screening tool used to determine whether applicants are likely to rely on government support — according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials.