requiring them to demonstrate that they will not, are not, nor expect to access public benefits like food stamps or Medicaid.
One of the Trump administration’s arguments in favor of the rule change, Tobocman says, is its belief that the poorest immigrants are draining the public treasury—a notion that Tobocman calls patently false.
“Even refugees who come without money or skills—even they contribute to federal budgets,” he says. “They don’t cause us to lose federal dollars.”
Tobocman sees a second rationale to the proposed change to the public charge rule that is not as explicitly stated: it would effectively curtail legal immigration by focusing more on skilled migrants, and limiting legal migrants to 500,000 people per year. He gives an example of a chilling scenario should the rule change pass: If a U.S.-born child of immigrants qualifies for and receives food stamps, their parents’ visas could be denied and they could then be deported.
“The Trump administration’s argument is that we need less immigration but need more skilled immigration,” Tobocman explains. “Global Detroit is typically not involved in federal policy issues, but our position is, immigrants with lower skills also benefit the country. There are labor shortages across the board” that they could help fill.
Tobocman says we have modern examples of what happens when developed countries experience stagnation, such as Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s, which caused significant reductions in Gross Domestic Product and wages.
“It’s our hope that the administration will pay particular attention to the economic impacts of the rule change,” Tobocman says. “I think some people respond to Trump’s immigration policies because of concerns about the economy. I don’t have a lot of cause for optimism, but I’m hopeful that Homeland Security will look at business and industry groups that filed comments with concerns about [the proposed rule change’s] economic impact.”
The Department of Homeland Security is currently going through the more than 210,000 public comments submitted in reaction to the proposed rule change—a process that has since closed. Once comments are processed, Tobocman says the federal government will address the rule change “in some official way.” Those who want further information on the public charge rule change are advised to contact the Department of Homeland Security.
“Having a rule change like this potentially closes the doors to anyone who is not upper middle class,” Tobocman maintains, adding that it also affects the ability of legal immigrants to bring their families with them. “This could change the face of our skilled immigrant workforce.
