Immigrants and the social safety net: Measurement, evidence, and policy developments

Debates over immigrant use of public benefits rely heavily on numbers—yet widely cited studies reach starkly different conclusions from nearly identical data, and policy is moving quickly to restrict access. This collection brings clarity to this contested issue.

In the first piece, Tara Watson and Sasha Snyder examine whether the new DHS public charge rule, set to take effect September 18, 2026, will drive immigrant families away from safety-net programs, drawing on evidence from the 2019 rule showing that SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid participation fell sharply even before that rule was enforced.

In the second piece, Mark Greenberg maps the expanding set of federal actions limiting immigrants’ access to services and assistance, from PRWORA’s original framework to new public charge rules.

In the third piece, Tara Watson and Sasha Snyder explain why estimates of immigrant benefit participation diverge so widely, walking through the four methodological choices that drive the differences and recommending best practices. In the fourth piece, they apply that approach to the 2023 American Community Survey, finding that non-citizens participate in most programs at lower rates than citizens—despite being disproportionately low-income.

In the fifth piece, Mark Greenberg and Tara Watson submit comments to DHS on a proposed rule that would repeal current public charge regulations in favor of subjective, case-by-case officer determinations, arguing that public charge criteria should remain clear rather than discretionary and warning that the approach would expand which benefits count against applicants while needlessly deterring eligible citizens and non-citizens from using public assistance. Together, the five pieces offer a guide to the policy stakes, the measurement pitfalls, the underlying evidence, and the current regulatory fight.