First Focus on Children submitted the following comment in response to the Department of Homeland Security’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM or proposed rule) to express recommendations to improve the public charge NPRM published in the Federal Register on February 24, 2022.
Excerpt from the comment
We believe that there should be no public charge barrier to immigrate to the U.S. and that the policy is harmful to children and their families, and we and our partner organization, The First Focus Campaign for Children, will continue to work to change the statute. Until then, this rule represents a common-sense approach to implementing the law. If finalized with our recommendations, the rule would provide much-needed clarity and stability for immigrants and their families and promote the well-being of millions of children in mixed-status families. We urge that you finalize a rule that includes our recommendations as soon as possible.