1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebar DHS Public Charge Proposal: Green Card Applications Would Turn on Whether the Applicant is Likely to Use “One or More Public Benefit” at Any Time in the Future December 12, 2018 The public charge ground of i
2、nadmissibility in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires immigration officials to make forward-looking assessments about the likelihood that a non-U.S. national (alien) will become dependent on the government in the future. The statute renders an alien “inadmissible” if he or she is “lik
3、ely at any time to become a public charge.” (Refugees, asylees, and some other groups of aliens are exempt from the public charge ground of inadmissibility.) As explained in a recent CRS Report, under current executive branch practice, the provision has implications mainly for aliens who seek lawful
4、 permanent resident (LPR) or “green card” status by applying for adjustment of status, if they are in the United States, or for an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate abroad. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) adjudicates adjustment