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WIC is exempted from DHS ‘public charge rule’
The CNMI Women, Infants, and Children’s program under the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. will not be affected by the “public charge rule,” which now allow the Department of Homeland Security to deny legal status to immigrants if they are benefiting from certain public benefits.
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a nationwide ban, or injunction, last Jan. 27 that that had prevented the DHS from enforcing the public charge rule. Certain public benefits include Medicaid, nutrition assistance program, or housing assistance.
WIC has clarified that its participants and WIC-eligible families should not be discouraged from accessing WIC’s nutrition and breastfeeding support services. Additionally, the final rule does not force barriers on children under the age of 21, pregnant women, and postpartum women (60 days after delivery) from accessing Medicaid services, neither does it penalize families if their U.S.-citizen child is accessing benefits.
WIC administrator Eric Camacho said the program recognizes the importance of all families in the community, that each family enhances “our villages, our culture and economy.”
“It is in all of our best interest, ethically and economically, to make sure that mothers and children have what they need to lead a healthy, happy, and productive lives,” said Camacho.
Camacho added that they stand fully committed to the vision of the WIC program, which is “happy mothers, healthy children, and a resilient community” and their doors will remain open to provide quality nutrition and breastfeeding services in the CNMI.
For more information on the public charge rule visit www.uscis.gov/legal-resources/final-rule-public-charge-ground-inadmissibility.
For more information about CHCC programs, visit their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @cnmichcc, visit their website at www.chcc.gov.mp, or call them at (670)234-8950.
MD: US Supreme Court reverses nationwide ban
KW: CHCC, WIC, US Supreme Court
