The Department of Homeland Security missed their second deadline
to explain the apparent dilution of immigration law barring those
seeking entry to the United States from becoming “primarily dependent on
the government for subsistence,” or a so-called public charge, to four
GOP senators on Monday.
The ranking Republicans on the Senate Finance, Agriculture, Budget, and Judiciary Committees have been pushing DHS and the Department of State since early August for an explanation as to why reliance on only two of the nearly 80 federal welfare programs in America (Supplemental Social Security Income and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) constitute a dependency risk and make an applicant unqualified for entry on public charge grounds.
An applicant’s participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or food stamps, housing benefits, energy assistance, child care services, Medicaid and a slew of other programs are all inadmissible, according to current immigration policy, when considering an individual’s application for citizenship, visa or a status adjustment.
While an explanation of the policy and accompanying data has not been forthcoming from the federal government, Department of State data analyzed by the staff of Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, reveals a shockingly low percentage of applications (immigrant and non-immigrant — or those applying for a temporary pass) denied visas on public charge grounds for fiscal year 2011 and in years prior.
In FY 2011, out of more than 10.37 million (immigrant and non-immigrant) applications processed by the State Department, just 7,069 applications were found to be ineligible on the basis of the applicant becoming a public charge, or .068 percent, according to the analysis.
Further, the net percentage of all visa applications denied on public charge grounds, subtracting those who were able to overcome the finding for fiscal year 2011 (as applicants can reapply), was just .003 percent. Thus, for those applications deemed to be inadmissible on the already finite definition of becoming dependent on the American government, nearly as many were able to overcome the finding.
The total number of applications denied on all refusal grounds — from terrorist activity to misrepresentation to criminal activity and the like — was 2.39 million, or 23.05 percent.
The ranking Republicans on the Senate Finance, Agriculture, Budget, and Judiciary Committees have been pushing DHS and the Department of State since early August for an explanation as to why reliance on only two of the nearly 80 federal welfare programs in America (Supplemental Social Security Income and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) constitute a dependency risk and make an applicant unqualified for entry on public charge grounds.
An applicant’s participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or food stamps, housing benefits, energy assistance, child care services, Medicaid and a slew of other programs are all inadmissible, according to current immigration policy, when considering an individual’s application for citizenship, visa or a status adjustment.
While an explanation of the policy and accompanying data has not been forthcoming from the federal government, Department of State data analyzed by the staff of Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, reveals a shockingly low percentage of applications (immigrant and non-immigrant — or those applying for a temporary pass) denied visas on public charge grounds for fiscal year 2011 and in years prior.
In FY 2011, out of more than 10.37 million (immigrant and non-immigrant) applications processed by the State Department, just 7,069 applications were found to be ineligible on the basis of the applicant becoming a public charge, or .068 percent, according to the analysis.
Further, the net percentage of all visa applications denied on public charge grounds, subtracting those who were able to overcome the finding for fiscal year 2011 (as applicants can reapply), was just .003 percent. Thus, for those applications deemed to be inadmissible on the already finite definition of becoming dependent on the American government, nearly as many were able to overcome the finding.
The total number of applications denied on all refusal grounds — from terrorist activity to misrepresentation to criminal activity and the like — was 2.39 million, or 23.05 percent.
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