Immigrant Families
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Removing Barriers to Health Coverage for Noncitizen Children is Key to Addressing Harmful Health Disparities
This month’s issue of Health Affairs is about borders, immigrants, and health, and there are several pieces focused on health of immigrant children and children in immigrant families. Mariellen Jewers and Leighton Ku’s article, “Noncitizen Children Face Higher Health Harms Compared With Their Siblings Who Have US Citizen Status,” looks at differences in access to…
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Biden Administration Actions on Public Charge Rules Help Restore Hope for Immigrant Families
This week brought some much-needed good news on public charge, which has immigration advocates singing Prince’s classic hit, “1999,” in homage to a return to the longstanding public charge rules also known as the 1999 field guidance. The good news is certainly worthy of a princely celebration, but some may be wondering how we got…
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President Biden’s Executive Order on Public Charge
On February 2, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) on various aspects of the U.S. immigration system, including public charge policies. Readers of SayAhhh! know that the Trump Administration changed longstanding public charge policies to make it harder for lawfully residing immigrants to obtain green cards by imposing a new wealth test. Though…
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Another Sign that We Can Do Better in Covering Children Who are Eligible but Not Enrolled in Medicaid
A new report from the Urban Institute finds that participation of uninsured children in Medicaid and CHIP stalled in 2018. While this analysis lags behind the latest data (2019) on health insurance status released by the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey last month, it continues to show the direct correlation between the child insurance rate…
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District Court Finds Public Charge Rules are Against Public’s Best Interest but Appeals Court Limits Injunction to Three States
Editor’s Note: On September 9, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule called Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility that will restore longstanding public charge policy effective December 23, 2022. Learn more in our factsheet. The COVID-19 pandemic has upended every aspect of our lives – health, work, home life, financial stability – and…
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Nevada Senator joins conversation about disparities in Latino communities during pandemic
This Is Reno By: Bianca Wright On July 16, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, representatives from UnidosUS—the United States’s largest Latino non-profit advocacy organization—and Congressman Joaquin Castro gathered on a conference call to discuss the latest report from UnidosUS, a document that describes how Latino people in the U.S. have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus…
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New Report Finds Chilling Effect, Avoidance of Health Care Services Among Immigrant Families
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the US, public health experts have emphasized the disparate impact the virus is having on certain groups – those over 65 years old (especially in congregate care settings), those with underlying health conditions, and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), Black, and Latino communities. Immigrants are also disproportionately…
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Fact Sheets: Latino Children’s Health Coverage
State officials’ decisions about coverage options, especially in times of crises, have a profound effect on children and can exacerbate pre-existing racial and ethnic disparities. For notes on methodology, visit this page. Arizona Fact Sheet California Fact Sheet Florida Fact Sheet Georgia Fact Sheet Nevada Fact Sheet Puerto Rico Fact Sheet Texas Fact Sheet For…
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Methodology: Latino Children’s Coverage Health Fact Sheets
Fact Sheets are additional analyses building upon the following brief report: Whitener, K., Lopez, S., Roygardner, L. & Snider, M. (2020). Decade of Success for Latino Children’s Health Now in Jeopardy (March 10, 2020). Unless otherwise noted, the data cited is based on Georgetown University Center for Children and Families analysis of the U.S. Census…
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DACA is here to stay… for now
Today, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), finding that the move was a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because it was arbitrary and capricious. (This may sound familiar – it’s the same problem the Administration has faced in the litigation surrounding Medicaid work…
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State Officials Weighing Emergency Medicaid Services for Undocumented Immigrants
WVTF By: Michael Pope Undocumented immigrants are being hit hard by the COVID-19 health crisis, and access to health care is a major stumbling block for many. But, Virginia could take action to increase availability of testing and treatment. A handful of states have made emergency Medicaid services available for undocumented immigrants to receive testing…
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COVID-19 and Immigrant Health
Now, more than ever, it’s critical that everyone has access to health coverage. The only way to effectively respond to a pandemic is to make sure that everyone can get the screening and treatment they need. Unfortunately, even with three new laws to address the COVID-19 public health emergency, there are still gaps in coverage,…
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We Must Rise to the Challenge and Help Latino Children Get the Health Care They Need
Yesterday (March 18, 2020), we released a report, “Decade of Success for Latino Children’s Health Now in Jeopardy,” in partnership with UndiosUS. The data in this report predate the recent COVID-19 outbreak, but the message is clear. All children need health coverage – especially in times like these. An effective defense against a pandemic includes…
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Fighting Fear with Facts: Here’s What the Supreme Court Ruling on Public Charge Injunction Means for Immigrant Families
Editor’s Note: On September 9, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule called Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility that will restore longstanding public charge policy effective December 23, 2022. Learn more in our factsheet. Earlier this week the Supreme Court issued a ruling to allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement…
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New Resource from Legal Experts about Access to Health Insurance
Earlier this month, the experts at CLASP, NILC and NHeLP teamed up and released a new resource, 10 Facts About Access to Health Insurance for Immigrants and their Families, breaking down the barrage of anti-immigrant polices in just 2, easily understood pages. This resource comes just in time for open enrollment – for ACA Marketplace…
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Here are the Facts About Anti-Immigrant Policies Pushed by the Administration and Their Impact on Children and Families
It’s hard to keep up these days on the policies pushed by this Administration that unfairly target immigrant families, but it’s important to be aware and to hold those who are in power accountable. Over the last two years, we’ve tracked harmful policies such as “zero tolerance” at the border and changes to public charge…
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New Rule Nixes Protections for Detained Immigrant Children, Harming Their Health
Editor’s Note: On September 9, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule called Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility that will restore longstanding public charge policy effective December 23, 2022. Learn more in our factsheet. Last September, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services (HHS) released a notice of proposed…
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How the New Public Charge Rule Impacts Children in Immigrant Communities
Editor’s Note: On September 9, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a final rule called Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility that will restore longstanding public charge policy effective December 23, 2022. Learn more in our factsheet. Executive Summary The final “public charge” rule changes immigration law and policy in ways that will shift the U.S.…
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Proposed HUD Rule Adds to Climate of Fear for Immigrant Families, Puts America’s Children at Greater Risk of Homelessness
Yesterday was the deadline for comments on yet another anti-immigrant proposed rule, this one targeting over 55,000 citizen children in mixed status families that rely on prorated housing assistance under current program rules. We joined other child health groups in submitting comments, underscoring the serious negative impacts of homelessness and housing insecurity for child well-being…
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Hundreds of Thousands Weigh in on Proposed Public Charge Rule
This week, we joined over 215,000 individuals and organizations in commenting on the proposed rule to radically change the meaning of public charge. As a reminder, public charge is a term used in U.S. immigration law to refer to a person who is likely to become dependent on the government for financial and material support.…

















