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Make it clear you oppose the rule change because it would hurt someone you love or your community. State your opposition and give a reason why in a couple of sentences.
Name at least one part of the proposal specifically. Read more about the rule change below, and CLICK HERE FOR IDEAS AND INSPIRATION from our friends at Healthcare for America Now. There are so many aspects to how this would hurt immigrant families, from healthcare justice to women’s rights to labor to protecting children.
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About the Rule Change Proposal
The Trump Administration is using every trick in the book to attack immigrant families. In September, Trump’s appointees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a proposed change to the “public charge” rule, which states that government can reject a green card application if they think the applicant is likely to be wholly dependent on government assistance.
There are currently only two benefits considered in “public charge” evaluations: cash assistance (such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for low-income seniors and people with disabilities or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)) and government-funded long-term care in institutions. Plus, even if someone is enrolled in one or more of these programs, immigration caseworkers also consider factors like age, health, education, family support, and income-earning potential when deciding whether someone is likely to become a “public charge.”
The Trump Administration wants to make the bar for “public charge” significantly lower, which would make it harder for people to get green cards and legal permanent resident status:
Programs considered expand to almost any type of assistance like Medicaid, food stamps, Medicare prescription drug assistance, support for pregnant women and infants, Section 8 housing vouchers, and more;
Applicants who use $1,821 or more per year in monetizable benefits during the 3 years before applying would be disqualified from getting residency;
New income requirements would mean that a family of four would need to earn about $63,000 annually to safely clear the “public charge” litmus test;
Two years ago, we wrote the
Indivisible Guide because we knew that everything we hold dear was under
threat. We’ve lost a lot since then, but we resisted, built a big blue wave,
and ultimately retook power in one chamber of Congress. Now, with control of
the House, we will band together to save our democracy.
Picture this: It’s January
3, 2019 and your new members of Congress (MoCs) are being sworn into the 116th
Congress. There are four
ways that their work, and ours, is changing:
Click to share this image
and the Guides on Facebook and Twitter!
We define what Congress works
on.
House Democrats now have agenda-setting power. That means they can choose
what bills get a vote, but it doesn’t mean they can enact laws
unilaterally.
We go on legislative offense in
the House. And
with their new agenda-setting power, there are two big opportunities
for Democrats to go on legislative offense in 2019 and 2020: messaging
bills and must-pass bills.
Oversight and investigation. Democrats will take control of
committess and be able to shine a light on this administration through
oversight and investigations (subpoena power, investigatory power,
hearings, and more).
We play original Indivisible
Guide-style defense in the Senate. Republicans still control the Senate, and they’ll keep
pushing Trump’s agenda. House Democrats will play a critical role in
defending against further harm, but demanding that your Senators listen
and keeping up the pressure in your home turf is critical.
Let’s take a deep dive into offense
First up on exploring our
strategy? Let’s start with the first two pieces: what can the new
Democratically-controlled Congress do on Day 1 with agenda-setting power and
messaging bills.
What is
agenda-setting power?
With control of both the
Senate and the House for two years, Republicans were the only party with the
power to decide what legislation came up for a vote. That gave them what we
call “agenda-setting power”.
Now, Democrats have partial
agenda-setting power. And with that, they have fun new tools available to them.
They have the power to shape the national discussion, focusing attention from
press and the public on preferred issues.
But agenda-setting power in
the house doesn’t mean Democrats can actually get legislation into law. We have to understand the risks and
limitations of this new state of play. Most important, of
course, is that Democrats can’t unilaterally enact laws. We can safely assume
that the vast majority of good legislation passed in the House will die in the
Republican-controlled Senate. Plus, we would still need Donald Trump to sign
any bill that clears Congress in order for it to become law.
Democrats will feel
enormous pressure to “play ball” with Trump and cut bad deals in the interest
of getting stuff done. It’s critical to remind the Democrats you sent to
Washington that you didn’t send them to negotiate with Trump and his Republican
enablers on his racist, xenophobic agenda. We
didn’t build a wave to let Trump build a wall, after all.So, let’s not mince words: your work to
stiffen Democrats’ spines is more important than ever.
What are
messaging and must-pass bills?
Messaging bills are
proposed by MoCs and have a minimal chance of being signed into law, but show what our politicians stand for.
Messaging bills allow Democrats to present an alternative vision for the
country, get Republicans on the record on key issues, and settle policy debates
and define the party’s agenda. Most of messaging bills won’t become law, since
they’re not going to pass the Senate. But
that’s not necessarily the point — we’re in this for the long game (think:
2019, 2020, and
beyond).
Must-pass bills are those
that … must pass.
Unlike the thousands of messaging bills that get introduced every year, there
are some bills that Congress has to pass every year. The most common of these
are government funding bills, which are needed to prevent a government
shutdown. But there will be other bills that must pass, like those extending
authorization for important programs.
Since Republicans still control the Senate, they need some Democratic votes to
pass these bills, and each of the “must-pass bills” presents an
opportunity for Democrats to extract important concessions in exchange for
their votes, or to protect against more harm from Trump and Republicans
hell-bent on doing his bidding.
What’s next
None of this is automatic
— we must demand Democratic MoCs push for messaging bills, organize around
must-pass bills, and resist deal-making with Trums. And we must get Republican
MoCs on the record about issues that matter.
This is where the second
part of the Guides comes in. We take this road map and turn it into strategy. Here’s how we get ready for offense:
Find your group.
The key to the Indivisible movement is building strong, local groups. And
if you haven’t found yours yet, do this first.
Join our national
activist call on December 6. Our organizing and policy
teams will host our monthly national activist call next Thursday. They’ll
discuss what legislation may be coming down the pike during the
#First100Days and discuss our plans for the “Whose House? Our House!”
national day of action on January 3.
Get ready for
January 3. Check out our organizing toolkit to find
everything you need to plan for the day of action!
We’re excited to see your
“Whose House? Our House!” events come together in the next few weeks (and we even have some merch to help you get ready!).
Get prepared to take action on the first day of the 116th Congress!
Be a Seed for Change 
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