PRESS RELEASE

AAPCHO Commends President Biden’s New Public Charge Ruling

September 8, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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WASHINGTON—The Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s new public charge rule. The new final rule released by the Biden administration today rolls back discriminatory provisions issued during the Trump administration and sets new federal public charge regulations in line with longstanding immigration laws and policies. This new rule ensures that use of federal health care benefits like Medicaid will not be used to deny any immigrant the ability to get a green card or entry to the United States.

Jeffrey B. Caballero, AAPCHO’s executive director, said:

“AAPCHO is heartened by the Biden administration’s new public charge rule. Immigrants and their families, especially Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders can be assured that they can seek the health care they need. 

“AAPCHO and our member community health centers continue to fight for immigrants’ rights and undo the deep fear and hesitancy in the communities our members serve. Many of our health center members saw a steep decline in patients seeking care because of the Trump rule, which has worsened during the pandemic. We hope this new public charge rule will help immigrants and their families confidently seek the health care they need without jeopardizing their immigration status. 

“The Biden rule is a positive step forward and will lead to healthier communities. AAPCHO is committed to working with the administration, our members, and our community partners to educate patients of their rights under this new rule, and ultimately removing discriminatory public charge provisions from federal law entirely.” 

To learn more about the new public charge rule, visit Protecting Immigrant Families at https://pifcoalition.org/.

About AAPCHO 

AAPCHO is a national association of community health organizations dedicated to promoting advocacy, collaboration and leadership that improves the health status and access of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the United States, the U.S. territories, and Freely Associated States. For more information on AAPCHO, please visit www.aapcho.org

Contact 

Kristine Cecile Alarcon, MPH, (510) 671-5054, kalarcon@aapcho.org 

Media Relations

Beverly Quintana
(510) 272-9536 x112
bquintana@aapcho.org

Kristine Cecile Alarcon
(510) 671-5054
kalarcon@aapcho.org

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