The Trump administration has issued new immigration guidance as of Tuesday, directing federal officials to assess whether certain prospective immigrants are likely to become a public charge or are positioned to contribute economically to the United States. The review considers a range of factors, including age, health, family status, assets and finances, education, skills, and any required affidavit of support.
The policy is a necessary correction to an immigration system that has too often ignored the fiscal consequences of pairing large-scale immigration with an ever-expansive welfare state. Rather than admitting applicants without seriously considering whether they can support themselves, the administration is restoring the expectation that immigration should strengthen, not burden, the American economy and its taxpayers.
The Trump administration just issued new guidance requiring government officers to determine whether prospective immigrants are going to be net drains on the U.S. welfare state or net contributors to the economy.@DanielDiMartino's research estimates this will save the U.S.… pic.twitter.com/4BNIGvBsLN
— Manhattan Institute (@ManhattanInst) August 18, 2026
"The Trump administration just issued new guidance to implement the new public charge rule when it comes to immigration," Daniel Di Martino, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Venezuelan immigrant, and economist said. "For over a century, immigrants coming to the United States have been required to prove that they're not going to depend on the government, something that is eminently reasonable, but no administration until the Trump administration has actually implemented this rule."
"Now, U.S. government officers are required to evaluate each prospective immigrant based on their age, education, income, health, and determine whether they're going to be net drains on the U.S. welfare state or they're going to be net contributors to the U.S. economy through their employment, entrepreneurship, or whatever else they do," he said. "This is a good guidance and one that not only upholds the law but it's going to benefit our economy and that my own research a few years ago estimates it's going to save us billions of dollars each year. It's going to prioritize immigrants that are net contributors to the U.S. economy rather than net drains on the U.S. welfare state."
In the late 1970s, Milton Friedman laid out this distinction that has only become more important over time.
The relatively open immigration system of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is widely remembered as a good thing, because immigrants entered a country with limited public assistance and a clear expectation of self-reliance. They came primarily for work, wages, enterprise, and the chance to build a life through their own effort. However, that system of free immigration is not viewed positively today, because as Friedman put it: “You cannot simultaneously have a welfare state and free immigration.”
America today is a fundamentally different country. It offers public education, Medicaid and other health programs, food assistance, housing subsidies, cash benefits, and a vast network of state and local services, some available to new immigrants directly. The question is no longer whether immigration benefits America. It is whether the system selects people ready and able to contribute, or creates incentives for people to come because taxpayers will subsidize their basic necessities.
The Trump administration’s new public-charge guidance is an attempt to restore that distinction. It rejects the idea that American residency should function as an entitlement detached from work, self-sufficiency, and economic contribution. The United States should welcome immigrants who seek the opportunity to build an American dream, not invite a system in which the American dream is financed by everyone else.
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