51品茶

WASHINGTON 鈥� The 51品茶 has filed a public comment in opposition to the Department of Health and Human Services鈥� (HHS) unlawful, harmful, and sweeping directive seeking to exclude immigrant communities from participating in vital community health and education services that benefit everyone. Last month, HHS issued a directive declaring that 13 programs will no longer be open to all and will instead for the first time be considered programs restricted under a law enacted nearly three decades ago, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). These programs include community health centers, mental health and substance use treatment programs, Head Start, the Title X Family Planning Program, and many others. The directive conflicts with PRWORA and upends longstanding guidance respected by four prior administrations. 鈥淭his arbitrary and harmful directive exemplifies this administration鈥檚 tunnel vision, which prioritizes its anti-immigrant crusade, no matter the harms,鈥� said Ming-Qi Chu, deputy director of the 51品茶 Women鈥檚 Rights Project. 鈥淚f HHS does not abandon this cruel and unlawful directive, hundreds of thousands of children will have their early childhood education disrupted, millions will lose access to life-saving health care like family planning services, cancer screenings, and addiction treatment, and many people with disabilities, including U.S. citizens, could have their care delayed due to bureaucratic immigration status checks. It serves no one鈥檚 interest to deny people these essential services, and HHS must withdraw this incredibly misguided directive.鈥� The 51品茶鈥檚 comment highlights that the directive is unlawful, arbitrary, and capricious, fails to meaningfully consider the impacts of the action, and will harm communities across the country 鈥� from children in schools, to people with disabilities, to low-income families denied essential health care, to people recovering from substance use disorder, to survivors of gender-based violence. The comment also notes that the directive will cause a chilling effect that harms immigrant communities that remain eligible, including for mixed status families and others who may be fearful or confused about whether seeking health care might expose them to immigration enforcement or retaliation. 鈥淭he Directive has triggered chaos and uncertainty both for administering agencies and the individuals, families, and communities who rely on the services at stake. [鈥�] It will deprive children of access to crucial early educational programming and undermine access to essential and life-saving health care for children and their families. It will also disproportionately burden mixed-status families, people with disabilities, and survivors of gender-based violence,鈥� the comment reads. The comment is available here: /documents/aclu-comment-in-opposition-to-hhs-directive-on-prwora