A federal rule that gives immigration officers wider discretion to weigh public benefits in green card decisions takes effect Friday, Sept. 18, as pediatricians report that many immigrant families are already pulling back from government programs and even school. In an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) survey published in Pediatrics, 31.3% of pediatricians said immigrant families were avoiding applications for government programs because of immigration concerns, CIDRAP reported. Another 21.3% said some families had kept children home from school.
A U.S. citizen child can qualify for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) even when a parent lacks permanent status. Those programs help pay for checkups, vaccines, and prescriptions. When a parent hesitates to enroll or renew, a routine refill can become an out-of-pocket bill or a skipped dose.
