Examples of Public charge in a sentence
Public charge refers to non-US citizens who have received one or more public benefits, for more than 12 months within any 36-month period.
Public charge law is particularly relevant to immigrants who are eligible to become lawful permanent residents (eligible to obtain a “green card”) and to immigrants seeking to enter the United States on certain types of visas.
Public charge determinations allow the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) authorities to reject green card applications, to prevent certain individuals from entering the county and to deport immigrants who use public benefits (Hammond 2018; USCIS 2020).Before 1996, immigrants had the same eligibility to welfare as U.S. citizens, if they were identified as Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR)1 (Broder et al.
Public charge laws have their roots in “poor laws” that were enacted in the colonies to regulate the movement of people—both those born in the colonies and immigrants—and to provide for their care if they required support during hard times.
Public charge is not an issue for refugees, persons granted asylum, or persons certified as trafficking victims.