In a much-needed move, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced the Public Charge Clarification Act of 2025 to codify the Trump-era public charge rule into law, requiring legal immigrants to demonstrate self-sufficiency and to consider using taxpayer-funded benefits before obtaining green cards.
For context, the new bill reverses Biden’s 2022 changes that exempted such benefits from consideration. It mandates that financial sponsors prevent future benefit use, aiming to protect American taxpayers, discourage welfare-dependent immigration, and ensure that immigrants contribute rather than rely on public resources.
Providing much-needed context, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) noted, “The Biden Administration not only scrapped President Trump’s effective border security policies, which kept the American people safe from illegal aliens coming from all corners of the world.”
Building on this point, Nehls explained how the Biden administration “Altered policies that safeguarded public benefits meant for American citizens, to allow for foreign nationals to drain these vital resources and encouraged dependency on these programs.”
Likewise, the courageous Texas lawmaker laid out the rationale for this bill. “It’s simple — if an alien will be a drain on critical resources that Americans fall back on during hard times, they shouldn’t be admissible,” he noted.
Additionally, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) explained his reasoning for introducing this new bill. “For too long, hardworking Americans have been left high and dry while Washington props up a broken immigration system that rewards dependence,” the senator said.
“If we truly want to put America First, immigrants coming to our country should contribute — not rely on taxpayers,” he added, connecting his new bill to promises made by the Trump administration, which vowed to reform welfare.
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Concluding his comments, he declared, “The Public Charge Clarification Act of 2025 does exactly that by reversing Biden’s disastrous policies and codifying the Department of Homeland Security’s commonsense 2018 proposed standard that puts American families first.”
One of the other co-sponsors, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), asserted, “The Biden administration’s inconsistent and weak enforcement of our border policies and use of taxpayer dollars have allowed illegal aliens to drain taxpayer resources while crime surged. ”
Additionally, the Florida Republican stated, “The Public Charge Clarification Act codifies President Trump’s effort to provide clear and fair standards, strengthens accountability to safeguard the opportunity of living the American Dream for those who come ready to work and succeed.”
In an official press release, Nehls broke down the details. “The “public charge” standard was intended to ensure that aliens entering the United States, or attempting to change their immigration status, are self-sufficient and do not rely on public resources for their subsistence,” his office noted.
Bashing Biden, the document stated, “Unfortunately, in 2022, the Biden Administration issued a revision to the Trump Administration’s 2019 “public charge” rule, radically narrowing the definition of a “public charge,” exempting the use of many taxpayer-funded benefits—including most Medicaid benefits, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and vital housing assistance—from consideration in granting permanent residency to aliens.”
Watch Congressman Randy Fine (R-FL) comment on much the same thing here, in his comments on cutting of immigrants, legal and illegal alike, from welfare: