Teach students how to fight back against Trump’s cruel “public charge” regulation

The Trump administration has proposed a new regulation that would block immigrant families from having a permanent, secure future in the United States. Under the new rule, immigrants who do not speak English, earn low wages, do not have a stable job, have a medical condition or access public benefits could be prohibited from having a permanent future in the United States.

Here’s how you can fight back:

LEAVE A COMMENT: Under federal law, the government is required to read and respond to every unique comment before issuing a final rule. A flood of comments can slow down the process, shape the administration’s decisions, and build a record for potential future litigation. Take a few minutes to post a public comment decrying this inhumane attack on the health and well-being of countless immigrant families.

EDUCATORS: Teach your students about how they can make a difference. We’ve created this Public Charge Lesson Plan to help you engage with your students about this important issue. The lesson plan has been carefully crafted to allow students to develop their argumentative writing skills, while taking a stand on a current policy issue and understanding how to influence the federal government; it contains a slide deck, case studies, a fact sheet, and a worksheet for drafting public comments.

“Teachers who care about democracy should use this lesson to inform their students about what’s going on, let the young people decide for themselves what they think, and teach students how to make a public comment to officials in Washington before the December 10 deadline.”  — Matt Alexander, co-founder of June Jordan School for Equity and author of the toolkit

Immigrants are our students, co-workers, and community members. Now is the time for us to join together—native-born and immigrant alike—to fight back against Trump’s efforts to tear families apart. We will not allow the Trump administration to put a price tag on legal residency in the U.S. by heavily favoring wealthy immigrants over others.

Thank you for taking action. It couldn’t be more important.