Message from the Chair on Public Charge Supreme Court Decision

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision to implement the Department of Homeland Security’s Public Charge regulation. The new regulation would deny entry or legal status to immigrants who seek to become a Legal Permanent Resident, or green card holder. It would force families to choose between using essential public benefits and being able to stay in the country. This is a discriminatory rule that disproportionately impacts low-income communities, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, who rely on temporary subsidy programs such as Medicaid and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

AAPI Progressive Action Chair Dr. Tung Nguyen shared the following personal message about this decision:

I have been fighting against public charge for almost 2 years, so the news that it will be implemented soon after the Supreme Court ruling 5-4 on 1/27/20 hit really hard. 

People will die from this policy as they are forced to choose between food, housing, or healthcare versus risking not getting a green card and being deported eventually. 

For legal immigrants with kids, it’s a choice between their own lives and their kids’ future. Having seen my parents bury their lives with work for my future, I don’t doubt that many parents will die for their kids.

So I will do what my parents did. I will be sad. And I will keep working toward a brighter future if not for myself then for all the children. 

I hope to see you all fighting with me against the people who have put their race, their profits, and their fears above other human beings. 

It’s coincidental but instructive and inspirational that the Supreme Court ruled on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Instructive because it reminds us of the banality of evil, how genocide begins with rules and the denial, even assistance, of bystanders. Inspirational because we will overcome.

In solidarity,

Tung Nguyen