Immigrants’ Resources
Public Charge Rule
Tracking New Changes to the Public Charge Rule
On January 27, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to lift preliminary injunctions brought in various state courts to block the Department of Homeland Security’s changes to the Public Charge Rule. At that time, an injunction was still in effect for the state of Illinois. As of the court’s February 21 ruling, the Illinois injunction has also been lifted.
A “public charge” is someone who is likely to depend or currently depends on the US government for subsistence. To be admitted to the US one of the things Immigration Officers consider is whether the person is likely to become a public charge, which is a major factor in determining admission to the US. Under these new rules, the DHS defines a public charge as someone who receives one or more “public benefits” for more than 12 aggregated months within any 36-month period (in other words, receiving two benefits in one month counts as two months). The DHS also allows immigration officers to deny applications based on public benefits received below this threshold if combined with other supposedly “negative” factors.
Previously, the definition of “public benefit” applied mainly to cash assistance (TANF, SSI, GA) and long term care institutional care funded by Medicaid. Effective February 24, the public benefit definition has been expanded to include cash benefits for income maintenance, SNAP, most forms of Medicaid, Section 8 Housing Assistance under the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program, Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, and certain other forms of subsidized housing. Additional changes have been made regarding income levels, forms, and sponsor requirements. If someone is found to be a public charge, their green card/visa application will be denied.
This could affect the types of public assistance international and immigrant GEO members can access, as well as their visas and ability to apply for legal permanent residency. For more details on the complete changes please read here. You can also visit the National Immigration Law Center's website or read the full text of the updated rule here.
Additional Resources:
Know Your Rights Resource Page from protectingimmigrantfamilies.org
February 21 NYT article with information about updated IL ruling
Neil Gorsuch’s concurring opinion on January 27 ruling
Immigration Raids
As many of you may know, President Donald Trump’s immigration raids were scheduled to begin July 14th, 2019, specifically targeting immigrant populations in our cities and neighborhoods. While the president postponed planned raids the previous month, the threat to immigrant families remains very real. If you hear from an immigrant, you yourself are an immigrant, or have immigrant students in need, we have some resources that can help you.
While the City of Urbana is a sanctuary city, it does not mean deportations do not happen in Champaign and Urbana. Champaign still has not declared itself a sanctuary city, nor has the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign explicitly declared itself a sanctuary campus, though it has expressed support for undocumented students. Our union declared itself a sanctuary union last August. GEO Local 6300 stands in solidarity with all communities under attack, and understands that the time for unity is now. Standing united with all workers, particularly the most vulnerable among us, is key to beating back the attack on our unions, our communities, and our standard of living in the years to come.
There are three immediate things you can do if you are experiencing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity:
If an ICE agent knocks on your door, DO NOT OPEN IT! Law enforcement agents must have a warrant signed by a judge to require you to open your door.
Record, document and share any ICE activity in your community. Take pictures, use video, get as much information as you can and send it to fsn@icirr.org. Click here for information on how to safely record ICE activity.
Contact your elected officials and community leaders. It's critical to give local officials and community leaders a heads up and urge them to get out statements in opposition to every single raid. Click here to find your state and federal officials. Click here to identify your Champaign or Urbana city officials.
Local, state and national immigrant rights projects and government agencies have assembled toolkits, resources and Know Your Rights flyers with information about immigrants' rights and how we can support them, and they are listed below:
Here are some resources that our allies at the Chicago Teachers Union has compiled.
Millions of immigrants are at risk from ICE raids, including families who have fled political repression and state violence from nations that range from Honduras and Guatemala to Saudi Arabia and the Sudan. Some immigrants, including Rohingya, many Kurds, and over half of Palestinians are technically stateless and at real risk of permanent incarceration by ICE. The State of Illinois has prepared KYR flyers in languages that include English, Polish, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Russian and Spanish to support undocumented immigrants—including stateless immigrants. Share them widely.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has assembled a Know Your Rights toolkit for immigrants. Please pass the link along to all who need it.
If you or someone you know experiences an ICE raid, please call 1-855- HELP- MY-FAMILY or 1-855-435-7693 immediately and report it.
Check out the IS IT A RAID? infographic in English and Spanish by OCAD—Organized Communities Against Deportations—for more information on how to identify and report immigration activity. Contact OCAD if you see or suspect any ICE activity. Let OCAD or another trusted organization confirm any suspected raid BEFORE sharing information publicly. OCAD's hotline number is 855-435-7693, where you can also access information about DACA, immigration support and more.
There are rapid response teams throughout the state ready to protect our communities. If you are already part of a local rapid response team, or would like support in developing one, please contact Evelyn Venegas at evenegas@icirr.org.
Groups like La Villita Se Defiende have also produced information and rights flyers. Download the LVSD flyer at this link and share it.
Locally, the University YMCA’s New American Welcome Center has compiled a good list of resources in the area, from a helpline to resources on legal assistance. Find them here.
If you, your colleagues, or your students cannot afford legal services but need them, check out The Immigration Project, which is an organization that provides low cost immigration services for downstate Illinois. Right now, they are not taking any new clients until after August 1st.
La Linea is a helpline for the immigrant community. They connect people to resources such as housing, legal services, employment, and more. Their services are free and confidential. They also offer interpretation/translation services and can come with someone to their appointment. You can call/text them at 217-417-5897. Their hours are Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm. Their email is lalinea@universityymca.org. To see someone in person go to the University YMCA located at 1001 S Wright St, Champaign, IL 61820 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) or The Urbana Free Library located at 210 W Green St, Urbana, IL 61801 on Mondays, 6pm-8pm .
For campus resources please check out La Casa Cultural Latina’s resource page here. There is also the UIUC resource page for undocumented students you can access here.
Feel free to share these resources with whomever needs it. If there are other resources not listed here that you would like to share, please email geo@uigeo.org.