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So, I don't typically like to discuss my personal life on here, but, in the context of the #PublicChargeRule and the broader debate over the difficulty of securing a permanent status, here goes:
So, I don't typically like to discuss my personal life on here, but, in the context of the #PublicChargeRule and the broader debate over the difficulty of securing a permanent status, here goes:
I recently filed this packet with USCIS. It's one of the more straightforward immigration processes you can undertake (adjustment of status as immediate relative of US citizen) and, at ~140 pages, it is on the shorter side of immigration applications writ large 
It includes the petition to register an alien relative, petition to adjust status, request for work authorization, and petition for advance parole, which would allow me to leave the country while the process is ongoing. All of these require their own evidence
I am in the small minority of people who have enough background and knowledge to compile my own application, and just went in for one consultation with an attorney. Because of this, I 'only' had to pay about $2,200 in USCIS fees, legal costs, and translation services
Meanwhile, I have extremely limited work authorization and basically no current income. I am hugely privileged in that I can count on family help in the meantime, and an amazing, supportive partner, whose family has agreed to act as a financial sponsor on this application
Yes, I needed financial sponsors because, turns out, there *already is* an aggressive public charge test as part of immigration petitions. Under the new regs, this is expanded, and USCIS agents might now get to scrutinize my credit score and employment history, among other things
I am also very privileged in that I have a well-documented ~15 years of being legally present in the United States, and no contact with the criminal justice system. No waivers of inadmissibility to obtain, no need to justify a criminal record
Point being, I'm a well-educated, legally present "alien" with U.S. financial backers, no criminal contact, and the know-how to put together my own relatively uncomplicated application, and it's still expensive and labyrinthine. And it's step 1 in what could be a yearlong process
It's full of catch-22s; for example, there are jobs I could take that would raise my income and decrease my "public charge" likelihood, but taking them might violate the current conditions of my work authorization and jeopardize my application in a different way
There are plenty of people out there who might qualify for residency, but the obstacles are high, and they're just getting higher. It's dissuasive. This is and has always been the objective of Stephen Miller and his ideological allies, which they will readily say so themselves
Addendum: because of the new public charge regs, starting in October there will be an additional 15-page form requiring a ton of extra evidence and with lots of invasive new questions as part of this same type of application (h/t to @matt_cam)
