Cut the cruelty

N.Y. pols to Prez: End anti-poor immig rule

MORE THAN 70 Democratic state lawmakers have written President Trump expressing opposition to a draft proposal that would make it more difficult for immigrants to receive green cards.

“If finalized, these changes would fundamentally and negatively alter who we are as a nation, directly threaten the health and well-being of millions of New Yorkers, and impose a significant economic burden on our state,” the state Assembly members wrote.

Under current rules, an applicant for a green card or permanent residency can be denied if the person is considered likely to become a public charge by receiving public cash welfare assistance and government-funded institutionalization for longterm care.

But The Washington Post in late March obtained a leaked draft version of the rule that showed the Trump administration wants to expand the denial process.

Under the proposed regulation by the Department of Homeland Security, an application for residency or a green card could be denied if a person receives a host of other benefits, including food stamps, refunds from income tax credits geared to the poor, a supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, housing vouchers, homeless services and after-school programs.

The letter to Trump was put together by Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, the Queens Democrat who chairs his chamber’s Social Services Committee.

“Making people choose between basic social services to which they are entitled and their chance of becoming Americans is un-American and we shouldn’t be putting people in that position to have to make that choice,” Hevesi said.

In the letter, the 71 state Assembly members and senators also expressed concerns that the children of immigrants, including kids who are citizens even if their parents are not, would also be subject to the rule.

The letter says there are currently 1.5 million children in New York who are either U.S. citizens and have at least one immigrant parent — 704,000 of whom are enrolled in Medicaid or a state health insurance program for kids. The rule could lead to hundreds of thousands giving up their health insurance benefits, the lawmakers warned.

“If enacted, these proposed regulations would be vindictive toward immigrants in the United States who are lawfully working through our legal system to attain resident status,” the letter says.

A White House spokesman could not be reached for comment.