10/16/2019 - Betsy McCaughey Townhall.com
President Donald Trump's key
immigration rule change, to discourage immigrants from relying on public health
programs, food stamps, housing assistance and other welfare, got derailed on
Friday by three federal judges. Their decisions, blocking Trump's rule from
going into effect, are wins for Democrats and immigration lobbyists. America's
poor are the losers. Our country needs to take care of its own needy first.
Trump's proposed rule would make it
harder for immigrants who use welfare to qualify for green cards and permanent
residence, and it would give preference to immigrants who fend for themselves.
The rule would also require visa applicants to show they won't use welfare if
they're let in the country. Manhattan federal Judge George Daniels blasted
Trump's proposed rule as an "exclusion in search of a justification,"
implying it was a racist ploy to keep out foreigners.
Judge Daniels has his facts wrong.
There are already over 300,000 families in New York languishing on Housing
Authority waitlists and over 4 million people nationwide waiting for public
housing or housing vouchers. Some suffer in squalor on the street. Welcoming
more people into this country who can't keep a roof over their head without
public assistance is insanity.
Public opinion is on the president's
side, according to a Harvard/Harris poll. Sixty percent of voters agree that
immigrants who are likely to rely heavily on welfare instead of supporting
themselves should be denied permanent residence. That's what Trump's rule boils
down to.
Judge Daniels mistakenly claims
there's "absolutely no support in the history of U.S. immigration
law" for it. Daniels needs a refresher course. In 1882, as immigration
soared, Congress voted to exclude "any person unable to take care of
himself or herself without becoming a public charge." That law is still on
the books. In 1999, President Bill Clinton redefined "public charge"
to include only those receiving cash welfare payments, not health care, food
stamps or housing help -- a distinction without a difference, as these
giveaways use taxpayers' cash.
Clinton's rule contradicts American
values, not Trump's.
University of California President
Janet Napolitano slammed Trump's rule for discouraging foreign students from
using food stamps and housing assistance. Napolitano says the rule makes it
harder for "the best and brightest" from other countries to study
here. Shouldn't taxpayers' dollars be reserved for our own best and brightest?
National Academy of Sciences
research shows that the average first-generation immigrant costs state and
local government $1,600 per year, including public education and safety net
programs, minus taxes paid. Newcomers who don't use safety net programs cost
less, benefiting taxpayers. Yet New York Attorney General Letitia James took
the lead challenging Trump's rule. It makes you wonder whom she's serving --
definitely not taxpayers.
Fortunately, Friday's decisions almost
certainly will be reversed on appeal. Meanwhile, Trump has announced another
immigration rule -- this one to correct an outrage that gives immigrants a
better deal on health insurance than U.S. citizens get.
The Affordable Care Act allows legal
newcomers to enroll in ObamaCare on arrival -- no waiting. If they're poor,
they get a free ride, including Uncle Sam picking up their copays and
deductibles. Even immigrants over age 65 get this deal -- an invitation to
bring over ailing Grandma.
No such cushy deal for Americans. In
14 states, 2 million who don't qualify for Medicaid because they earn too much
also don't qualify for ObamaCare because they earn too little. Because they're
American, they're caught in the middle and get nothing -- no insurance. If they
were immigrants, they could enroll in ObamaCare. The rules for immigrants are
more lenient.
Here's another outrage: Some 2.5
million middle-class people dropped ObamaCare because they couldn't afford it.
While they remain uninsured, their tax dollars are buying plans for
noncitizens.
As global migration soars, nearly
every developed country has adopted rules requiring immigrants to be
self-sufficient. Denmark, Germany and Austria bar them from using welfare.
Finland and Belgium require proof of employment.
But here, Democrats oppose any
limits on immigration, tarring those who disagree as "racists." That
name-calling divides the nation. We need a civil debate over how to welcome
migrants to keep our economy growing yet still put our own needy first.
Betsy McCaughey is a former
lieutenant governor of New York State. Contact her
at betsy@betsymccaughey.com
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