For Immediate Release: July 22, 2026
Contact: Naomi Hess, communications@aapd.com; 202-873-4011; Jess Davidson, jdavidson@aapd.com
WASHINGTON, DC – Last Friday, July 17, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a new final rule on the “public charge rule.” The new regulation grants broad discretion to immigration officers to bar current and prospective lawful immigrants from admission, permanent residency, or citizenship if they rely on programs such as Medicaid or other public benefits. “Public charge” means immigrants who are applying to come to, or are currently legally residing in, the US, who also rely on any public benefits program, such as Medicaid. If an individual is determined to be a “public charge,” their application for immigration or citizenship status will be denied. Immigrants currently in the US who are deemed a “public charge” may even be deported.
AAPD strongly condemns the DHS final rule. The administration’s new rule removes the definition of “public charge” developed in prior regulatory processes and does not replace it with a new policy. The new rule goes far beyond the public charge rule issued during the first Trump Administration and replaces clear prior guidelines with the judgment of individual immigration officers, giving them sweeping, unprecedented, and inappropriate authority.
A pervasive negative stereotype of disabled people is that we will rely on public benefits and become burdens in our communities. The broad judgment given to immigration officers invites discrimination against people with disabilities and their families.
Giving U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agents this sweeping power to decide the fate of immigrants’ applications to enter the United States and putting those who remain here at risk of deportation is exceptionally dangerous for disabled immigrants. USCIS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) both fall under DHS leadership, which has time and again empowered ICE to indiscriminately employ tactics against citizens and immigrants alike that have repeatedly resulted in grave harm, injury, and death.
The new rule allows immigration officers and U.S. Consulates to consider any type of public benefits received or applied for by noncitizens at any time and for any duration when making public charge determinations, including benefits they received on behalf of a disabled family member who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
“This rule represents a cruel departure from our nation’s promise of welcoming all who seek to join the rich tapestry of the United States, and endangers the lives of people with disabilities all over the world who often come to this country specifically to access medical care, technology, or supports that are unavailable in their home countries so that they can ultimately lead full self-determined lives,” said Maria Town, AAPD President and CEO.
This will have a significant chilling effect, reducing the legitimate and necessary use of benefits by U.S. citizens, adults who are lawful permanent residents of the United States, and children with disabilities.
“Restricting immigrants’ ability to enter the U.S. or adjust their immigration status once they are in the country prevents them from gaining opportunities to live safely, receive treatment, and pursue options that allow them to lead healthy and independent lives. Denying individuals the opportunity to enjoy American opportunities based on an individual officer’s subjective perception that an individual may need public benefits is antithetical to our nation’s promise as a land of welcome, refuge, and opportunity for all who seek a better life,” Town continued.
The new regulation also fails to reflect the reality that many people who receive Medicaid also work, pay taxes, and contribute to their communities. Needing financial assistance or accessing public benefit programs should never be used to deny someone’s application to come to the United States on the basis that they will be a “burden to the state.” There are millions of working disabled adults who rely on Medicaid, and there are millions of working parents whose disabled children rely on publicly funded special education services.
Moreover, disabled people who rely on public benefits who do not work, whether as a result of their disability or as a result of the restrictions of the programs they need to survive, still contribute greatly to their families, their communities, and to this nation in a myriad of ways.
This new policy is as cruel as it is harmful. Our thoughts are with every disabled immigrant and their loved ones, whose lives will be shaped by the devastation this policy will create.