Writing for National Review‘s online platform, Robert VerBruggen has an eminently level-headed take on a new Trump administration proposal: curbing immigrants’ use of taxpayer-funded welfare benefits: “Trump plans to better enforce the federal law saying that immigrants can’t come — and can’t get permanent residency or a new visa status if they’re already here — if they’re likely to become a ‘public charge.'”
The new regulations are still in the process of being worked out, but left-leaning outlet Vox obtained a leaked draft. Unsurprisingly, the left characterizes this proposal as “punishing” immigrants for utilizing public services like the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), food stamps, and housing benefits.
In reality, it’s unfair to American taxpayers to fail to enforce our immigration laws and expect them to bear an undue burden.
As VerBruggen explains, “We should not take pleasure in yanking benefits away from poor families, but this is a good policy and consistent with the law. We can let into this country only a fraction of the people who would like to come, and many of those who can’t come are left behind in poverty-wracked nations. There is no reason the people who win this lottery — sometimes a literal lottery — should also get taxpayer support, reducing the resources available to our own citizens. It is entirely reasonable for us to insist that people who come here support themselves, and to refuse to grant permanent residency if they fall into government dependency.”
His full post at National Review Online can be found here: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/456255/public-charge-immigrants-trumps-plan-enforce-law
