The Department of Homeland Security has been planning to consider green card applicants’ use of welfare benefits in determining whether to grant permanent legal status, broadening an interpretation of an immigration rule under the Biden administration. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the DHS department that oversees green cards, is set to examine applicants’ use of welfare benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps, and housing assistance as factors when deciding whether to grant individuals legal status. The development comes as the latest in a series of moves USCIS has made to tighten green card eligibility, including recently requiring applicants to seek the status only from their home country.