The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has finalized a regulation that will rescind the Biden administration’s 2022 public charge rule. That rule limited the types of public benefit receipts immigration officers could consider when determining whether an alien is inadmissible because they are likely to become a public charge.
The concept of denying admission to individuals who are likely to become dependent on government assistance is not new. It has been part of U.S. immigration law for more than a century, and the principle dates back to colonial times. The federal government adopted the standard in the Immigration Act of 1882, which barred the entry of “any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge”.
This standard is currently codified at INA § 212(a)(4), which prohibits an alien who immigration officers determine is likely to become public charge from being admitted to the United States. Moreover, if an alien who is already in the United States wants to adjust status to another lawful immigration status (including to lawful permanent resident, also known as a “green card holder”) but is determined to be inadmissible under INA § 212(a)(4), their application will generally be denied.
The INA does not define “public charge”, but requires immigration officers to consider “at minimum” the alien’s age; health; family status; assets, resources, and financial status; and education and skills when making a public charge determination.
Notably, the Trump administration’s new rule repeals the Biden administration’s “primarily dependent” standard, which was modeled on Clinton administration guidance and allowed aliens to receive a broad range of public benefits so long as they do not become “primarily dependent”. Instead, DHS will now allow officers to assess dependence on any public resources to meet needs, under a more flexible “totality of the circumstances” framework. This will effectively eliminate any “bright-line” test in making a public charge inadmissibility determination.
In furtherance of this standard, DHS also repealed the regulatory limitations on public benefit types that an immigration officer is permitted to consider when making a public charge determination. By repealing the 2022 regulation, DHS is expanding immigration officer discretion by allowing them to consider all factors and information they deem relevant. In contrast, the Biden administration’s 2022 regulation limited officer’s discretion to only the five factors mandated by statute.
DHS’s regulatory update does not revise U.S. Department of State or U.S. Department of Justice standards or processes related to public charge inadmissibility determinations. The rule also does not interpret or change DHS's application of the public charge ground of deportability at INA § 237(a)(5).
DHS stated that it removed the regulatory framework because both the 2019 public charge rule and the 2022 public charge rule provided overly “narrow” and restrictive lists of factors that officers were required to consider and are “in significant tension with the inherently discretionary nature” of the public charge inadmissibility statute.
On September 4, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a memorandum, titled “Reaffirming Guidance on Public Charge Inadmissibility Determinations”, that reminded USICS officers to strictly adhere to the INA when making inadmissibility determinations, including under the public charge ground. Specifically, the memorandum directed officers to apply a “totality of the circumstances” standard when considering whether an alien is likely to become a public charge. The memorandum clarified that, “No one factor, other than the lack of a sufficient Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA, if required, can be the sole criterion for determining if an alien is likely at any time to become a public charge.”
While the regulatory changes go into effect next week, USCIS will not apply the new rule for 60 days (until September 2026). Until then, DHS stated that immigration officers will continue to only consider an alien’s receipt of public benefits if those benefits are public cash assistance for income maintenance or long-term institutionalization at the government's expense when making public charge determinations, consistent with the Biden era restrictions.
In December 2025, Center for Immigration Studies submitted a public comment to support DHS’s proposal to rescind the Biden administration’s 2022 public charge rule. You can read our analysis here.