Dec 19 Comment to DHS Opposing to “public charge” rule changes

December 19, 2025 

Secretary Kristi Noem
Department of Homeland Security 
Washington, DC  

Re: Opposition to Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (DHS Docket No. USCIS-2025-0304) on “public charge” rules 

Dear Secretary Noem, 

On behalf of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, in response to the Department of Homeland Security’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Docket No. USCIS-2025-0304), we respectfully submit this comment in strong opposition to the proposed rescinding of the 2022 Public Charge Rule.

Our Board believes that a fair and humane immigration system allows every resident to live, work, and participate fully with dignity and without fear – recognizing the vital contributions of immigrants to the cultural, social, and economic fabric of Marin County.

Core to our work as a County is furthering the well-being of all residents and advancing community-wide health. We are concerned that the proposed rulemaking on the “public charge” rule will directly undermine both the public health and community trust of all residents in the County.  

Our County is dedicated to fostering a healthier and more resilient community in Marin. The proposed changes to the current well-grounded regulations on “public charge” would directly hinder the county’s ability to achieve these goals. Evidence from national research and polling, including from KFF Health Policy Research, shows that public charge policies can trigger widespread “chilling effects” that cause eligible families, including those with U.S. citizen children, to withdraw from or avoid essential programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance to which they are legally entitled. In particular, the use of non-cash assistance by legal immigrant residents and mixed-status families that need and are entitled to them, promotes community-wide public health and supports self-sufficiency. This makes the inclusion of non-cash benefits in a public charge determination particularly concerning. 

We believe the consequences of this proposed rule would be significant and widespread; resulting in reduced prenatal care, untreated chronic disease, and avoidable medical emergencies. Our County health clinics and call centers have already witnessed the confusion, fear, and avoidance effect by clients, families, and community members amid the current environment of uncertainty surrounding legal benefits to immigrant residents. 

Temporary use of safety-net programs by legal immigrants as they settle into the country is a well-documented and expected pattern. These programs allow immigrant families to stabilize after transitioning to the country, and allows their earnings rise to self-sustain themselves over time – ultimately reducing their reliance on benefits and increasing their long-term contributions to the local economy and community vitality. The proposed rescinding would needlessly penalize legal immigrant families and invert this known path of progress; undermining rather than advancing economic mobility and integration. 

Our Board is also deeply concerned about the erosion of trust in local public institutions, given that the proposed change would deter families from accessing essential services that counties are responsible for delivering. A climate of fear amongst immigrant populations makes it harder for county services, including critical health and human services and emergency responders, to protect the health and safety of all residents. Distrust and disengagement with local programs from immigrant and non-immigrant residents will increase community-wide threats to public health and safety, like communicable diseases, food insecurity, delayed diagnosis of treatable illness and injury, and engagement with first responders.

For these reasons, the Marin County Board of Supervisors urges the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw the current proposed rulemaking. The harm created by reversing progress on access to public services will not only inflict preventable harm on our entire community, but will also place a greater fiscal and administrative burden on local government in a time of great state and federal fiscal uncertainty.   

Our communities are stronger, healthier, and more prosperous when all residents can access the services for which they are legally eligible for, without fear.

Thank you for considering our input in the Department of Homeland Security’s Proposed Rulemaking process.

Sincerely,  

Mary Sackett, President
Marin County Board of Supervisors

CC:      Marin County Board of Supervisors 
            Senator Alex Padilla
            Senator Adam Schiff
            Congressman Jared Huffman