Virtual Training: Public Benefit Information for the Immigrant Community (via Zoom)

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Important Public Benefit Information for the Immigrant Community! 

The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland invites all of Cuyahoga Community College Bienvenidos a Cleveland partner organizations and others to attend an important informational session on the topic of public charge.

For more than 100 years, whenever an immigrant has applied to enter the U.S. or stay in the country permanently, an immigration official has evaluated whether the immigrant is likely to become a “public charge” (someone who depends on the government for their basic needs).  If the official determines that the immigrant is a public charge, they may not be able to emigrate to the U.S.

A new public charge rule went into effect this year. Under this new rule, immigration officials can look at many aspects of the immigrant’s life, including his or her income, assets, credit score, education, work history, ability to speak English, and past receipt of public benefits.

As you can imagine, there is no more pressing time than during this COVID-19 pandemic and the beginning of a new school year for everyone to be able to access healthcare, testing, treatment and vaccinations.  Unfortunately, fear of being a public charge have deterred many families from obtaining critical public benefits such as Medicaid and SNAP (formerly known as Food Stamps) during these difficult times.  Notably, public charge DOES NOT apply to all immigrants.

Please join this session to find out more details and raise awareness of this important issue.

Please RSVP to Magda Gomez at Cuyahoga Community College:
Magda.Gomez@tri-c.edu
(Zoom link will be provided upon confirmation)