Thread by @doug_rand

.@USCIS released this relatively apolitical history of #PublicCharge last month. I suppose the point is to show that the US has excluded & deported people on these grounds for a long time.

But many elements undercut the new #PublicCharge rule... 1/
uscis.gov/history-and-ge…

@USCIS .@USCIS says: "the original intent of the policy...was meant to exclude only those who could not or would not work, as opposed to those who were capable of work & were merely poor at the time of applying for admission."

But new #PublicCharge rule is just such a wealth test! 2/

@USCIS .USCIS quotes the INS chief in 1949: "It is wrong to assume that poverty alone will disqualify an immigrant. Such an assumption is refuted by the epic American story which tells of millions of #immigrants—largely the poor and oppressed of other lands... 3/

@USCIS "...who have found vast opportunities in *America… What is more important than immediate assets is the desire to become a* productive member of the community, coupled with freedom from serious physical and mental deficiencies.” (emphasis in the original!) 4/

@USCIS .@USCIS: With "no exact standard for determining which aliens should be deemed" a #PublicCharge, #immigration officials had to use "prophetic judgment" & "applied the provision widely and often inconsistently."

The new & inexact #PublicCharge rule would make this even worse! 5/

@USCIS Very curious to read more thoughts on this official history of #PublicCharge from @hidehirota @inclusionist @ReichlinMelnick @CramonBPC @NILC @PaulWHughes @cyrusmehta @IraKurzban @gsiskind @cliniclegal @CleverTitleTK & others on #ImmigrationTwitter... 6/6
uscis.gov/history-and-ge…