Still working through public charge rule released tonite by @DHSgov, but on first/second read it is less punitive towards immigrants than earlier versions reported on by @nickmiroff, @dlind, + myself reuters.com/article/us-usa… + vox.com/2018/2/8/16993… + washingtonpost.com/world/national…
Previous leaked drafts would have penalized aspiring immigrants who used the earned-income tax credit; Obamacare subsidies; Head Start; home heating subsidies; and WIC. The version released tonight by DHS includes none of those dhs.gov/sites/default/…
Previous versions also would have penalized immigrants who enrolled their kids, even U.S.-born children, in the Children's Health Insurance Program. DHS is still considering adding CHIP, but is requesting comments before doing so 
Perhaps most significantly, DHS says the proposed regulation will NOT consider the use of benefits by an aspiring immigrant's household members or children. Previous versions did take into account whether an applicant's children, even those born in US, used public benefits
Still, despite this narrower scope, advocates have said even rumors of public charge changes have led immigrants to take their kids and themselves off of needed benefits. Interestingly, DHS even anticipates some of these impacts in rule released tonight
That's all from me on this tonight, but our updated story on the public charge regulation is here: reuters.com/article/us-usa…
