Senate votes to block Biden’s leniency on immigrants using welfare; Senate passes resolution disapproving of Biden admin’s public charge rule on immigrants, welfare

Senate votes to block Biden’s leniency on immigrants using welfare:

The Senate voted Wednesday to overturn a Biden administration rule that allows legal immigrants to use welfare without having to worry about facing consequences in their future status.

The 50-47 vote sends the measure to the House, where it is also likely to pass, given the GOP’s majority.

But the White House vowed to veto the measure, and the Senate vote fell well short of the tally that would be needed to override the president.

Still, the vote stands as another rebuke to Mr. Biden on both his expansive regulatory agenda and on immigration in particular.

U.S. immigration law for more than a century has been based on the idea that immigrants should pay their own way, including not becoming a “public charge” by taking welfare or other government support. Those who violate the public charge standard can be denied the chance to become citizens.

The current law was written in 1996, but it left it up to the administration to decide what counted as government support.

The Biden rule, finalized last year, would say that only a few cash welfare programs would count against a legal immigrant. —>READ MORE HERE

Senate passes resolution disapproving of Biden admin’s public charge rule on immigrants, welfare:

The Senate on Wednesday passed a resolution, with bipartisan support, disapproving of the Biden administration’s “public charge” rule on which forms of welfare legal immigrants can receive without being ineligible for a green card, despite a White House threat to veto.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, forced a vote on a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act — which allows lawmakers to object to rules being put forward by the administration.

The resolution passed the chamber 50-47, picking up the support of not only Republicans, but also two Democrats: Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Three senators did not vote.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during the United States Conference of Mayors 91st Winter Meeting January 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“The Senate just passed my Resolution to overturn the Biden Admin’s Public Charge Rule,” Marshall tweeted. “We must ensure our immigration system promotes self-sufficiency and protects American taxpayers.”

The resolution would nullify the Department of Homeland Security’s rule, introduced last year, that codifies guidance put in place during the Clinton administration and that departs from a now-reversed Trump-era rule issued in 2019 that expanded the forms of welfare that would consider an immigrant as a “public charge.” There is a separate effort in the House to nullify the rule led by Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas. —>READ MORE HERE

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