Wrong. First affidavits of support only apply to means-tested benefits, not general benefit programs such as Medicare. That distinction aside, please tell me what percentage of affidavits of support have ever been successfully enforced? Back in 1996 the U.S Commission on Immigration reform advised that the affidavits of support should be made legally enforceable, but THAT HASN’T HAPPENED. In addition, the public charge test does not apply to refugees or persons granted asylum in the U.S., Haitians, Cubans or Nicaraguans, Amerasians, certain Soviet and Indochinese illegals. The foreign-born utilization of SSI is confirmed by administrative data. SSI program data reveal that approximately 25 percent of elderly SSI recipients are foreign-born.
>>>>>affidavits of support only apply to means-tested benefits, not general benefit programs such as Medicare.
I wasn’t addressing that, since the number of Medicare-eligible LEGAL immigrants is rather small in the grand scheme of things.
>>>>>>That distinction aside, please tell me what percentage of affidavits of support have ever been successfully enforced?
Like the rest of the immigration code, probably never. But the tools to do so are there. The notarized and witnessed AFS is hard to argue with should any entity demand payment under its provisions. Sort of like our other labor, immigration, and deportation codes.