UFW Foundation: U.S. high court affirms Trumpanti-immigrant policy targeting people of color

UFW Foundation Executive Director Diana Tellefson Torres issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Trump administration’s regulation changing the criteria to what constitutes as a “Public Charge”:

The UFW Foundation is dismayed by the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant “public charge” regulatory change to be implemented nationwide—one of its many policies particularly targeting immigrant families of color. Public charge is among many efforts by Donald Trump and his administration to reduce the pool of mostly non-white immigrants who will be able to legalize and eventually become citizens. It sends a clear message to the world: If you are not white and wealthy, you are not welcome in America.

These changes do not affect most immigrants and do not mean immigrants who access public benefits will be automatically denied entry into the U.S. But by upholding the changes, this ruling will still discourage many immigrant families, including those with children who are U.S. citizens, from receiving assistance to which they are entitled. It will hurt thousands of farm workers and other poor immigrants, their families and the communities where they live by threatening their ability to obtain badly needed food, shelter, and emergency medical care.

Despite this decision, other litigation continues. Public charge is a direct attack on immigrants and families of color, and we will continue fighting against it.

###