immigrants being self sufficient has been on the books since forever. Immigrants can be deported if they become a public charge.
The loophole is sponsorship...there is no enforcement for a sponsor to be able to support an immigrant.
Pres. Trump tried to encode this...
Aha, I see; the sponsorship was supposed to give them a leg up, I guess. DH was a political refugee, with a sponsor. Within two months or less he was on his own, working. Nursing homes, Barnum and Bailey, whatever he could find. Never a public charge. And while learning English....