As the daughter of an immigrant and someone who depended on food stamps to survive, I refuse to stay silent as the Trump Admin tries to punish immigrant families by changing the “Public Charge” rule.
When I was a teenager, my dad lost his job, sending our family spiraling into poverty. My father, brother and I soon moved from SE Asia to Hawaii—but my mom was forced to stay back as she wasn’t yet a U.S. citizen
Having a warm meal at night quickly went from being a given to a godsend. I still remember the hours my dad spent walking from payphone to payphone, hoping to find enough spare change for me and my brother to be able to afford the 25-cent school lunch the next day.
I still remember going to the grocery store and counting out our last five $1 food stamps to buy as much bread and bologna as possible—then praying we’d have enough to last the week.
In the end, we survived. We scraped by. And my mother was able to join us (later becoming a proud U.S. citizen). But if President Trump has his way, the same might not be true for countless other scared, struggling families.
Right now, POTUS is trying to change the law to force immigrant families to choose b/w staying eligible for perm. residency & receiving lifesaving public benefits like SNAP & Medicaid.
The goal of his new rule is clear: to vilify immigrants, scaring them away from getting the care they desperately need in an attempt to push—even starve—them out of this country.
I can’t begin to imagine what it would’ve been like to have to decide between going hungry and having my mother at home, but that’s the choice other families may have to make if Trump’s proposal gets implemented.
There’s still time to stop this rule change though. The public comment period ends on Monday: regulations.gov/comment?D=USCI…
