New public charge policy will create fear, confusion, and barriers for immigrant families

RALEIGH (July 22, 2026) – The North Carolina Justice Center condemns the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to rescind the clear and specific 2022 public charge guidance and replace it with a broad, undefined grant of “discretion” that allows immigration officers to make “public charge” decisions on their own. This new policy will create fear, confusion, and chaos for immigrant families trying to follow the law. Rather than strengthening our immigration system, it will close the door on families pursuing lawful pathways to permanent residency.

What is public charge, and how has it changed?

“Public charge” is a long-standing U.S. policy that prohibits those who might depend on the government for support from obtaining green cards. In the past, the federal government provided clear and defined criteria for which benefit programs would be considered negatively under the rule, allowing families to make informed decisions about which benefit programs they or their eligible children could access without jeopardizing a path to residency.

Under the new policy, immigration officers now have broad discretion to determine whether someone is a public charge. By replacing clear standards with subjective decision-making, the policy increases the risk of arbitrary and discriminatory outcomes and leaves families unsure of how the rules will be applied.

That broad discretion extends to how immigration officers evaluate a family’s financial circumstances. Although DHS says it will not directly consider benefits received by family members, it still allows those benefits to be considered as evidence of a family’s finances.

How will this policy impact immigrant families?

The result will be a chilling effect that discourages eligible family members—including U.S. citizen children—from accessing essential health and nutrition programs out of fear. DHS admits in the policy itself that it “may negatively impact the health and education opportunities for children, including U.S. citizen children.”
If DHS recognizes this policy will harm children, it should not have adopted it.

We’ve already seen the chilling effect of previous public charge policies. A North Carolina survey in 2021 found that 27.9% of respondents from mixed-status immigrant families avoided Medicaid or other health insurance, and 35% avoided SNAP, housing, or child care assistance, because they feared it would affect a family member’s immigration status.

At a time when families are struggling to afford groceries, housing, and health care, many North Carolinians receive supplemental support through programs like Medicaid, SNAP, the school lunch program, Head Start, and WIC to meet their basic needs and keep children healthy.

Needing these programs does not make someone less deserving of building a future in this country. We reject that premise outright.

Rather, they are essential supports that millions of North Carolinians rely on every day:

• More than 3 million North Carolinians are enrolled in Medicaid, and 43% are children.
• More than 1.4 million North Carolinians rely on SNAP to afford food, and more than two-thirds of participating families have children.
• 80% of North Carolina SNAP households include someone who works.

“In the past, the federal government acknowledged that the use of most supplemental programs that keep families healthy and strong was not an indicator that those families were not in fact contributing to our state and its economy. By erasing those rules, families are now left in the dark about whether anyone in their household, including their U.S. citizen children, can access any kind of program without jeopardizing a family member’s green card application.”

– Kate Woomer-Deters, Senior Attorney, NC Justice Center

Who is and isn’t affected?

This policy does not apply to everyone. Refugees, asylees, U and T visa applicants (victims of crime and trafficking victims), victims of domestic violence, Special Immigrant Juveniles, and those who already have green cards are not subject to the public charge test. The people most likely to be affected are certain immigrants seeking lawful permanent residence through family-based pathways.

The federal government has also said it will release further guidance before September 2026, which may contain more detail about how the government will assess green card applications.

We stand with immigrant communities.

This harmful federal policy is another step toward an immigration system driven by fear and discrimination rather than fairness and transparency. The North Carolina Justice Center will continue working with trusted partners to provide accurate information, connect families with trusted resources, and support immigrant communities as additional federal guidance becomes available in the coming weeks.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Kate Woomer-Deters, Senior Attorney for the Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, kate@ncjustice.org