Borough Hall to host town hall on Trump’s ‘public charge’ rule

Borough President Melinda Katz met with the borough president’s Queens Immigration Task Force in February. Katz will host a town hall on Donald Trump administration’s “public charge” rule. Photo courtesy of Borough Hall, file.

By Victoria Merlino

Borough President Melinda Katz will host a town hall to discuss the Trump administration's new “public charge” rule, which has the potential to affect members of Queens’ immigrant population, on Sept. 17 at Queens Borough Hall. 

“This cruel, anti-immigrant policy will do little more than push immigrant families in Queens and across this country further into poverty and further into the shadows through the creation of an income test for the pursuit of the American Dream,” Katz said in a statement. “By forcing families to choose between legal residency and food on the table, medical care or a roof over their head, we are endangering not only their well-being, but that of all New Yorkers.”

“This Town Hall will aim to dispel any myths and misconceptions about this rule, while counteracting the chilling effects it may have on communities,” she continued.

Currently, immigrants can be denied entry or residency into the United States based on their likeliness of participating in cash assistance program, or their likeliness of receiving long-term institutional care. 

The Trump administration proposed expanding this definition to include those who have used, or may use, services like Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Section 8 housing. The law is slated to go into effect Oct. 15.

Katz’ town hall, in partnership with the New York Immigration Coalition, will address what that could mean for immigrants potentially impacted by the change. 

Katz’ isn’t the only local leader who vehemently opposes the policy.

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit on Aug. 20 challenging the rule’s expansion, a move backed by Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

“Generations of citizens landed on the welcoming shores of Ellis Island with nothing more than a dream in their pockets,” James in a statement announcing the move. “The Trump Administration’s thinly veiled efforts to only allow those who meet their narrow ethnic, racial and economic criteria to gain a path to citizenship is a clear violation of our laws and our values.”

The town hall will occur from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 120-55 Queens Blvd. in Kew Gardens.