Tahirih Justice Center’s Senior Immigration Policy Counsel, Irena Sullivan, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times about the impacts of the proposed changes to the public charge rule on survivors of domestic violence.
“By law, those who apply for certain humanitarian forms of relief, including under the Violence Against Women Act, are not subject to the public-charge rule. But survivors are already forgoing critical benefits, unnecessarily fearful of jeopardizing their eligibility for a green card.
Survivors and others applying for permanent residence on grounds unrelated to domestic violence, however, are subject to the public-charge rule. They face a cruel choice: basic, life-sustaining services, or denial of relief and deportation.”
