On October 10, the Trump Administration proposed a rule to vastly expand the “public charge” under U.S. immigration law. The proposed rule threatens the future legal residency status of millions of Americans, would deny entry visas to hundreds of thousands legal migrants, and has potentially devastating economic impacts on our nation’s immigration system, workforce, health care industry, and communities. The impact and importance of this policy cannot be overstated.
The public charge Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was posted for public inspection on October 10 and the public is encouraged to submit their opinions on this rule by Monday, December 10, 2018.
The Protecting Immigrant Families coalition has done a solid job of gathering and disseminating research and focusing argumentation on the humanitarian aspects of this proposed policy and highlighting its injustices.
WE Global believes that more needs to be done to educate allies and the general public about the economic impacts of the proposed public charge rule. WE Global co-hosted a Twitter Town Hall on November 29th for that purpose.
Here’s what you can do:
Share these arguments with your friends and network
Participate in the Town Hall to help spread awareness
File your public comment opposing the rule
Encourage others to file their comments with you
The Economic Argument
Learn more about the proposed public charge rule and its potentially devastating economic impacts. Use these talking points to make economic arguments against the proposed public charge rule.
These talking points are based on research and data and highlight the tremendously harmful impacts on workforce, health care, spending, innovation, and population across our nation.
SPREAD THE WORD.
How to submit your comment
The national advocacy coalition against the expansion of public charge, Protecting Immigrant Families has made submitting comments easy. Individuals, organizations, and businesses are able to submit their comments through the comment form at https://protectingimmigrantfamilies.org/#take-action. PIF has pre-populated its online form with a sample comment for you.
We encourage you to edit this pre-populated comment with your own thoughts that incorporate WE Global’s draft comments, talking points, and your own analysis that highlight how you, your organization, or business will be impacted by the proposed rule. You can cut-and-paste them into the PIF online comment submission text box or you may submit via the instructions on the proposed rule change document at the National Archives, here.
USE YOUR VOICE.
Already submitted your comment?
Great! Now help us spread the word, and invite your friends, family, and networks to submit a comment, too.
Graphics
A picture is worth a thousand words. We need your help to expand our reach on behalf of immigrant families that will be negatively impacted by public charge.
Use these graphics to help spread the word and tell the story.
AMPLIFY THE MESSAGE.
Sample comments and how to edit
Use the WE Global sample comments to craft a personalized comment. The more specific and personal your comments, the more likely they are to be given consideration. WE Global’s sample comments are drafted with specific arguments in mind, from the economic impacts—including workforce, health care, spending, innovation, and population effects of the proposed rule—to humanitarian reasons including protecting children.
It is important to note: The Federal Government is required to read and respond to every single comment and provide reasoning for why the proposed rule is still valid. If we all use the same sample comment, the administration can draft only one reason in response. But if we all insert our own truthful and personal reasons for opposing the public charge, the administration will be required to respond to all of those reasons. If they fail to, this would be grounds for legal action.
YOUR OPINION MATTERS.
How to participate in the Twitter Town Hall
A Twitter Town Hall is a Twitter conversation. During the hour, Global Detroit, WE Global, New American Economy, All for All, and many others will be tweeting about the economic costs of public charge. This event will provide advocates with the tools to use economic arguments against the proposed public charge, and bring attention to the incredible need for public comments and opposition to this proposed rule.
Be sure to follow the hashtags #PUBLICCHARGE and #PUBCHARGEECONOMICS and include these hashtags in your tweets. You can join the conversation by liking and retweeting, tweeting out the sample tweets and graphic prepared, and adding new content in your own tweets to help generate twitter activity and build awareness. It helps if you tag media and influential leaders in your community during the Twitter Town Hall. It also helps if you invite these folks beforehand.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION.
#PUBLICCHARGE #PUBCHARGEECONOMICS #PROTECTFAMILIES
What we’re asking of you: Join in the conversation!
Hosts will be tweeting out questions. Please answer the questions by replying to the question tweet. This will create a tweet stream that can be read as a dialogue. Also:
- answer the questions asked
- ask other questions that come up for you
- share any other information, data or stories you have that support the economic argument.
- retweet others’ tweets so that your followers can become engaged
- “like” all of the messages that go out. The more activity there is the farther it will spread.
This Twitter Town Hall on the Economic Costs of Public Charge is co-hosted by:
A project of Welcoming America in partnership with Global Detroit.
