Now the Trump Administration Wants to Punish Immigrants for Being Poor or Needing Healthcare

Trump adviser Stephen Miller, a white supremacist with the balding dome of Mr. Burns, is ready to launch his next attack against immigrants: NBC reports that the White House will soon unveil a plan to prevent some visa and green card holders from becoming citizens.

The proposal, which has been in the works for months, targets the nearly 20 million immigrants who rely on public assistance programs like the Affordable Care Act, children’s health insurance, or food stamps. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services currently denies legal permanent resident status to individuals seen as a “public charge,” but also notes in its policy that “receiving public benefits does not automatically make an individual a public charge.” The Trump administration is moving to change that, it seems. Under the proposed policy, which does not require congressional approval, it would expand the definition of “public charge” to include virtually any immigrant who participates in any type of government program. It’s another way to punish people for being poor, which is something this administration is very good at.

More from NBC on what this looks up close:

Many are like Louis Charles, a Haitian green-card holder seeking citizenship who, despite working up to 80 hours a week as a nursing assistant, has had to use public programs to support his disabled adult daughter.

Using some public benefits like Social Security Insurance has already hindered immigrants from obtaining legal status in the past, but the programs included in the recent draft plan could mean that immigrant households earning as much as 250 percent of the poverty level could be rejected.

The Trump administration is choking off immigration at every point, from asylum seekers to refugees to undocumented immigrants to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients to visa holders, putting obstacle after obstacle in their path that leaves hundreds of thousands of people in limbo.