A Trump administration plan unveiled Monday to discourage legal immigration by anyone labeled at risk for one day needing public assistance due to medical problems, lack of a college degree, English fluency and other criteria drew swift backlash even from some leaders in the president’s own party.
Orange County Assemblyman Tyler Diep, R-Westminster, says his family relied on public benefit programs when they legally immigrated nearly 30 years ago as refugees from war-torn Vietnam.
After waiting almost eight years for the green light, Diep’s family arrived in the United States in 1991. He credits welfare and Medicare programs for helping him become the first person in his extended family to graduate from an American university.
Diep tweeted about his family’s experience Monday, asking “What is wrong with you guys?” as he shared a Washington Post story about Trump’s “public charge” policy.
Diep is in his first term representing the northern coastal 72nd Assembly District, which still leans red by 2.4 percentage points. But this isn’t the first time Diep has criticized Trump’s immigration policies.
In December, Diep (together with Supervisor Andrew Do) wrote a letter to Trump opposing the president’s plan to reverse a decade-old policy that blocks deportation of Vietnamese immigrants who came to the U.S. as refugees after the Vietnam War.
Refugees and asylum seekers are exempt from Trump’s rule change. But other Orange County representatives expressed concern Monday over how the new policy will make legal immigrants already in the U.S. less likely to apply for needed food, medical or housing benefits.
“This rule forces struggling families to choose between feeding their kids or becoming a US citizen,” Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, said via Twitter. “This is the Admin’s latest attempt to limit legal immigration & redefines who we are—a nation of immigrants.”
Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Yorba Linda, called the rule “an attack against all families.”
“These programs are essential to help families make ends meet & support their well-being,” Cisneros tweeted. “We need to fix our immigration system, not make it difficult for those seeking citizenship.”
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