Over 125 Democratic lawmakers are calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to retract a proposed rule that could potentially deny green cards to individuals utilizing public benefits such as Medicaid or food stamps.

President Trump’s recent proposal aims to overturn the Biden administration’s version of the public charge rule. In 2022, the Biden administration reinstated longstanding guidelines that allowed the denial of green cards to applicants deemed “primarily dependent” on government aid, including those receiving cash assistance or nursing home support.

Critics express concern that rescinding this rule without a suitable replacement could lead to widespread green card denials for applicants who would otherwise qualify. Furthermore, it may discourage immigrants from accessing public assistance programs for which they are eligible.

More than 125 Democrats in Congress are urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to withdraw a rule that would open the door to denying a green card to those who use public benefits like Medicaid or food stamps.

President Trump’s latest crack at a so-called public charge rule would strike down the Biden-era version of the rule, which in 2022 returned the country to long-standing criteria that allowed rejections of green cards for those “primarily dependent” on government assistance, such as those who received cash assistance or help with nursing home care.

In striking down the rule without offering a replacement, critics fear Trump is opening the door to widespread rejection of green cards for those who would otherwise qualify, while also prompting immigrants to not seek assistance for which they could qualify.

“This proposal punishes families for caring for their children. It would scare parents away from health care, food assistance, and early education that U.S. citizen children are legally entitled to, putting kids at risk and destabilizing entire communities. Congress never intended public charge to be used this way, and we are demanding DHS withdraw this harmful proposal before it inflicts real and lasting damage on American families,” said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), chair of Congressional Hispanic Caucus and one of the members who spearheaded the formal comments, in a statement.

In formal comments obtained by The Hill, the 127 Democrats said the rule “creates immediate and widespread uncertainty.”

The public has until Jan. 20 to comment on the rule, but if it’s finalized, the Trump administration won’t have a formal definition of what it means to be a public charge. Lawmakers argue immigration officers will be pushed to make that determination with little guidance.

“Removing these definitions invites arbitrary decision-making and creates significant risk that adjudicators will rely on factors that Congress has not authorized,” they wrote.

“The proposed rule contains no assurance that adjudicators will refrain from considering benefits received during periods when the federal government expressly stated that such benefits had no immigration consequences.”

The comments said the shifting rules open the door to penalizing those who previously accessed such programs when doing so carried no risk.

“Families seeking adjustment of status — including refugees, survivors of domestic violence or trafficking, children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned, and others whom Congress has long exempted from punitive public charge treatment — cannot navigate a system where the rules shift without warning and where past, lawful conduct that the federal government had stated was permissible could be reinterpreted as a negative factor,” they wrote.

“To be very clear, the proposed rule will trigger a massive chilling effect, driving eligible families away from essential assistance in health care, nutrition, childcare, and education, with the heaviest harm falling on U.S. citizen children.”

Roughly 1 in 5 Americans are enrolled in Medicaid, while about 1 in 8 percent receive food stamps.

The programs are available only to those who are lawfully present in the United States, and with Medicaid, migrants are only able to receive care if their state has agreed to cover the cost.

Under the 2019 public charge rule crafted during the first Trump administration, immigration officers were directed to reject applicants who used any number of public programs.

The latest proposed rule described former President Biden’s policy as a “straitjacket [on] DHS officers,” barring them from considering “all factors and information relevant to an alien’s likelihood at any time of becoming a public charge.”