The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) final rule on Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility, is available for public inspection and scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on July 20, 2026. This final rule provides immigration officials with broad discretion to deny legal status to a foreign-born person based on expected or actual utilization of government assistance. As a result, this rule would harm both the aging services workforce and foreign-born older adults by creating fear, limiting access to safety net programs, and making it harder for immigrant caregivers to get legal status.

The rule implements Section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which provides that any alien who applies for a visa, admission, or adjustment of status is inadmissible if they are likely at any time to become a public charge.

In interpreting this provision, DHS is no longer limiting its determination of an alien’s likelihood of becoming a public charge based on the seven factors set forth in DHS’s 2022 final rule. Rather, by removing those provisions, DHS seeks to implement policy and interpretive tools for making public charge inadmissibility determinations based on a totality of the alien’s circumstances, which would include consideration of the alien’s receipt of means-tested public benefits and other data relevant to an alien’s self-sufficiency.

Despite significant opposition to the proposed rule, DHS is adopting the rule as proposed.

LeadingAge raised a number of concerns in its comments to the proposed rule, highlighting that the rule leaves foreign-born older adults and the workforce who serve them with having to make the impossible choice between obtaining the necessary food, housing, or healthcare and maintaining their immigration status. In expressing our opposition to rule, we emphasized that the rule would discourage immigrant workers who are crucial to the aging services sector from seeking legal status and work permits, impacting the availability of workers in this field. We also noted that because this rule does not explicitly address whether use of benefits by family members would be considered in a public charge determination in the future, it would create a chilling effect on eligible immigrant households and cause them to disenroll from critical programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance.

In its response to comments, DHS acknowledged a number of the negative effects of the rule raised by commenters, including: reduced revenues for healthcare providers, such as hospitals and nonprofits, participating in Medicaid; financial strain, such as increased tenant turnover and higher administrative costs, for landlords participating in federally funded housing programs; and disenrollment in public benefits from individuals who are not subject to the public charge ground of inadmissibility, including U.S. citizens and children, due to concerns their receipt of benefits might affect a family or household member’s immigration status. With respect to the latter, the final rule noted that USCIS will be issuing subregulatory guidance on USCIS adjudications of adjustment of status applications, that will go into effect on the same date as the final rule, which will provide more information on whose benefits will and will not be considered in an alien’s public charge inadmissibility determination.

In the final rule, DHS explicitly recognized that individuals in mixed-status households, as well as aliens and U.S. citizens who are not subject to the final rule, may face increased poverty and housing instability due to their decisions to disenroll from or forgo receiving Federal housing benefits for which they are eligible to avoid immigration consequences. Nevertheless, DHS concluded that the rule’s overriding consideration—the Government’s interest in promoting the self-sufficiency of aliens within the United States and disincentivizing immigration due to the availability of public benefits—was a sufficient basis to move forward with finalizing the rule as proposed.

The final rule will take effect on September 18, 2026. LeadingAge continues to have deep concerns with the impact that this rule will have on foreign-born older adults and the workforce that supports them.  We will continue to monitor developments stemming from this final rule, including the issuance of implementing guidance, as well as any potential litigation.