U.S. Immigration Law and the Public Charge Doctrine

The words "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free" presents the United States with a unique dilemma: balancing a welcoming signal to immigrants abroad, with the right to exercise its sovereignty and "[F]orbid the entrance of foreigners to its territory in general or in particular cases, or to certain persons or for certain particular purposes; according as it may think it to be advantageous . . ." Regulating persons who take the pledge inscribed in the Statue of Liberty literal and immigrate to the United States, has been at the heart of American immigration regulation since early times. Principally, early American immigration policy focused on the detection and exclusion of the poor, those likely to become a public charge. This thesis presents a general analysis of public charge and discusses the evolution and application of the statute given the development and modifications to U.S. immigration law from 1875 to 1996. In the first section I discuss the efforts of the colonies and the states to regulate persons that are likely to become a public charge. Second, I offer an analysis of the role of public charge in shifting immigration policy from a state driven mechanism to a federal responsibility. The section that follows discusses discretion as a central element in public charge determinations. Accordingly, I also examine the impact of the discretion afforded to immigration authorities by the public charge statute for medical, race and gender based exclusions. Next, this thesis brings into focus the integration of public assistance policy with immigration policy. Finally, the last section presents public charge as a decree that today is more objective.