NEW YORK — If elected to a second term, former President Donald Trump could re-invoke the public charge rule, creating a climate of fear among immigrants who have availed of public benefits.

“We will absolutely be addressing public charge,” said key Republican strategist Rodney Whitlock, vice president at McDermot Consulting. “We’ve got more people flooding in to the US than ever before. You can’t have millions of people pouring into the country without consequences,” he said June 7 — responding to a question by Ethnic Media Services — during a panel discussion at the Association of Health Care Journalists annual conference here.

Whitlock did not respond to EMS’ emails with follow-up questions.

Green Card Denials

The public charge rule, on the books for decades, has seldom been implemented. But six months into his term, Trump announced he would begin enforcing it. Trump’s rule denied a green card to any U.S. resident who had received one or more forms of federal public benefits.

Immigrants receiving Medicaid, public housing, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, among other benefits, were deemed ineligible to receive green cards, even if they were applying for those benefits on behalf of their US born children.

The Trump Administration rule also allowed consulates abroad to determine whether prospective immigrants to the U.S. eventually would become public charges. Immigrants seeking to settle in this country had to prove they could earn at least $41,000 a year, eliminating many elderly people and separating families.

Biden Guts Rule

Several states sued to block the rule from being re-implemented, but the Trump administration prevailed. It rolled out the enforcement February 24, 2020, just as the COVID pandemic began taking its toll in the US.

Even before the rule was formally re-implemented, many immigrant families had stopped using public benefits — including programs like school lunches, which do not fall under the criteria of public charge — fearing they might be denied permanent U.S. status.

The Biden Administration gutted most of the public charge rule, leaving in just two factors for ineligibility: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and institutionalization for long-term care.

Chilling Effect

Kerri Talbot, executive director of the Immigration Hub, told Ethnic Media Services she was concerned about Trump reinvoking public charge, and using it as a tool to gain support for his anti-immigrant policies on the campaign trail.

“There will definitely be a lot of panic in the immigrant community and a chilling effect,” she said, noting that Trump has consistently demonized both legal and undocumented immigrants in his campaign rhetoric.