Thread by @mboteach

🛎RED ALERT🛎Trump just unilaterally expanded his powers to attack immigrants & working families w/new #publiccharge rule

This is Trump at his worst:
❌ Rigging system for the rich
❌Emboldening white supremacists
❌Separating families
❌Cutting kids healthcare

Thread ⬇️

What is public charge? For a summary, read this thread:

https://twitter.com/mboteach/status/979739374215749632

), but basically, it's an arcane policy from 1892 (originally designed to keep out Irish Catholics), Today, the rule excludes immigrants likely to rely on govt for subsistence. 2/

What does Trump’s rule do?

It RADICALLY expands the existing rule to essentially make being (or being related to) a working-class immigrant a reason to fear for yourself and your family.

You can read all 447 hate-filled pages here: dhs.gov/sites/default/… 3/

1) Rule sets up a radical income test. You’d have to achieve American Dream ELSEWHERE if you want to come here. It's HEAVILY weighted if your income >250% FPL, so family of 4 would need $12K more than median earnings of FT white male workers ($62,750/year) to pass the test. 4/

2) You now need to be superhuman to get a green card.
❌Don’t get sick: you could be excluded on basis of disability/health
❌Don’t get better: you could be excluded for using Medicaid/CHIP
❌Don’t have boss who pays low wages: you could be excluded for turning to SNAP 5/

3) The rule sets up impossible choices: Be careful taking off time to care for a sick partner, child or parent. If your income drops below new test or if you need to turn to nutrition assistance/other help while you’re caregiving, you could put your green card in jeopardy. 6/

Trump's #publiccharge rule is a toxic cocktail mixed by combining Trump’s elitism, coddling of white supremacists, propensity to separate families, and fetish for taking healthcare away from kids & families.

Let’s examine each: 7/

ELITISM: This is an attack on working people plain and simple. Donald Trump is putting moving the wealthy up in the immigration line ahead of families waiting years to be reunited. & he’s terrorizing parents for trying to meet the needs of their kids 8/

WHITE SUPREMACY: It’s 2018 & Donald Trump is radically expanding the same policy was used to keep Irish Catholics, Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, #PWD, & LGBTQ people from immigrating to the U.S. No surprise that it’s politicos w/ties to ACTUAL Nazis that are behind it. 9/

Family separation: An analysis of a previously leaked draft showed that Trump’s policy could prevent nearly HALF of all foreign-born spouses of U.S. citizens from obtaining green cards. boundless.com/blog/looming-i… 10/

HEALTHCARE: The rule forces family members to choose between use of medical care/food such that a mother would need to choose between meeting her child’s needs & jeopardizing her green card to stay w/her family. Thousands of kids have already lost healthcare out of fear. 11/

Here's a nugget: in opening cost/benefit analysis, "costs" calculated by DHS are almost entirely about the increased paperwork people would need to fill out.

Never mind the terror it's inflicting on families or the kids who will lose healthcare...
dhs.gov/sites/default/… 12/

This rule has damaging implications for ALL of us - immigrants & US citizens alike.
In no particular order:

1) Rule means higher costs & miles of red tape for states, cities, & businesses, who now need to collect & report information the admin would use to target families 13/

2) It's an affront to our values & a wink at white supremacists: If you are a Trump supporter, know this: his racism is a feature NOT a bug. His inflammatory tweets turn into racist policies.

https://twitter.com/mboteach/status/984439029902045186

Here's a link that should work! dhs.gov/sites/default/…

3) Shift costs to hospitals, philanthropy and non-profit service providers. When ppl don’t get healthcare, nutrition, and services they need, the consequences are felt elsewhere… 15/

4)Radically disrupt care for our children & parents. Immigrants are 20% of our nation’s childcare workforce and large % of LTSS workers for seniors & #PWD, jobs so low paid that many workers need to turn to public assistance. Imagine the disruption americanprogress.org/issues/early-c… …16/

5) Generate culture of fear & toxic stress in affected communities & a chilling effect where families pull out of healthcare & other benefits they are eligible for in fear of deportation. This is ALREADY HAPPENING. See talkpoverty.org/2018/03/01/lea… … & clasp.org/publications/r… …17/

6) Exclude ppl w/disabilities or “any health condition” from our society. @RebeccaCokley @amprog & @HannahLeibson detail how. #cripthevote americanprogress.org/issues/disabil… 18/

I could go on & on (and as I comb further through the rule, I'll be updating this thread & tweeting further). But know this: we will NEED you to take action. As @NILC_org & @MarielenaNILC note: We have tools to disrupt and even stop this

https://twitter.com/NILC_org/status/1043625237764562944

19/

Stay tuned and follow these folks for more updates and opportunities to take action! @NILC_org @CLASP_DC @MarielenaNILC @CAPimmigration @inclusionist @RebeccaCokley @TomJawetz @pwolgin @CalEndow @CLASPOlivia 20/