Giving Compass' Take:

· Global Citizen explains that the Trump administration has proposed a rule to deny citizenship to poor immigrants who have used any public welfare benefits, which would threaten the bedrock American principle.

· Is this a reasonable and ethical rule? How would this rule impact the US economy? How would this rule limit the pursuit of the American Dream?

· Learn how this proposed rule could drive up the cost of healthcare.

The US Department of Homeland Security has proposed a new rule to curb legal immigration into the United States, according to CNN.

The new rule would allow the government to deny entry to prospective immigrants who may use public welfare benefits while in the US. It would also make it harder for current legal-resident immigrants to pursue full citizenship if they have ever used welfare benefits. If the rule is enacted, it could affect millions of law-abiding people, according to the New York Times.

The proposal is based on a legal notion called the “public charge” that has been applied for decades to assess if a prospective immigrant will be too much of a financial burden on the country. But the Trump administration has significantly expanded the interpretation of the concept, arguing that it will save taxpayer money.

The rule is ultimately part of a much larger push to restrict legal and illegal immigration to the US, according to the Times.

“Under long-standing federal law, those seeking to immigrate to the United States must show they can support themselves financially," Kirstjen Nielsen, head of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement in a DHS news release.

Read the full article about citizenship for immigrants by Joe McCarthy at Global Citizen.