Key among these provisions is the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, which generally restricts noncitizens' eligibility for public benefits. The public charge grounds are of recurring interest to Members of Congress because of questions about whether aliens who receive various forms of public assistance are inadmissible or deportable on public charge grounds. In particular, it describes the statutory basis for the public charge grounds; seminal administrative and judicial decisions construing the meaning of public charge ; and regulations and other guidance promulgated by executive agencies after the enactment of PRWORA to address questions about whether aliens who receive public benefits that they are permitted to receive under PRWORA could potentially be subject to removal on public charge grounds. The Immigration and Nationality Act

Since 1903, the INA has contained two separate provisions addressing the public charge grounds. This provision generally applies to
aliens seeking to obtain visas or admission at ports of entry; aliens within the United States who seek to adjust their status to that of lawful permanent resident (LPR); and aliens who entered the United States without inspection. This provision applies to LPRs and other aliens admitted to the United States. However, while the INA provides that an alien may be inadmissible or deportable on public charge grounds, it does not define what it means for an alien to be a public charge. Then, in 1996, Congress amended the INA provisions regarding the public charge ground of inadmissibility to require that consular and immigration officers take certain factors "into account" when determining whether aliens are inadmissible or ineligible for adjustment of status on public charge grounds. These factors include, "at a minimum," the alien's age; health; family status; assets, resources, and financial status; and education and skills. Early Administrative and Judicial Decisions

Given this general lack of statutory guidance, the executive and judicial branches initially construed the term public charge in adjudicating cases involving individual aliens. Thus, it concluded that the grounds of deportability must be more "strictly construed" than the grounds of inadmissibility. As to deportability , the rule would have specified that aliens are generally not deportable on public charge grounds unless the INS shows that 
1. the government entity that provided, or is providing, public cash assistance for income maintenance, or the costs of institutionalization for long-term care, has a legal right to seek repayment of those benefits; 2. that entity demanded repayment of the benefit within five years of the alien's entry to the United States; 3. the alien or any other party obligated to repay the benefit failed to do so; 4. there is a final administrative or court judgment requiring the alien or another party to repay the benefit; and 5. the benefit-granting agency, or other applicable government entity, has taken "all actions necessary to enforce the judgment," including "all collections actions." DHS officials, in contrast, determine whether aliens arriving at U.S. ports of entry are to be admitted; whether applications for adjustment of status are to be granted; and whether aliens within the United States are to be removed. The U.S. The DOS regulations emphasize the role that the alien's "circumstances" play in determining whether an alien is inadmissible, in part, by specifying that: 
[a]ny determination that an alien is ineligible [on public charge] grounds must be predicated upon circumstances indicating that, notwithstanding any affidavit of support that may have been filed on the alien's behalf, the alien is likely to become a public charge after admission, or, if applicable, that the alien has failed to fulfill the affidavit of support requirement .... 
Consular officers are expressly authorized to issue visas to aliens subject to the affidavit of support requirement, noted above, who "giv[e] ... a bond or undertaking in accordance with INA 213 and INA 221(g)," provided that the officer is satisfied that the giving of such bond or undertaking removes the likelihood that the alien will become a public charge, and the alien is otherwise eligible for a visa. Public Benefits and the Public Charge Grounds

Collectively, the various sources addressing the meaning of public charge suggest that an alien's receipt of public benefits, per se, has historically been unlikely to result in the alien being deemed removable on public charge grounds. As previously noted, the INA does not define public charge , or link the public charge grounds of inadmissibility and deportability with the receipt of public benefits. The case law interpreting and applying the public charge grounds similarly suggests that receipt of certain public benefits could result in a determination that an alien is inadmissible or deportable on public charge grounds, if certain other conditions are met. It should also be noted that, in making determinations regarding aliens' deportability on public charge grounds, only causes that pre-date their entry are considered.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) has long provided for aliens' exclusion and deportation from the United States on "public charge" grounds. Under current law, aliens outside the United States who seek to obtain visas at U.S. consulates overseas, or admission at U.S. ports of entry, are generally denied entry if they are deemed "likely at any time to become a public charge." Aliens within the United States who seek to adjust their status to that of lawful permanent resident (LPR), or who entered the United States without inspection, are also generally subject to this ground of inadmissibility. Similarly, LPRs and other aliens who have been admitted to the United States are removable if they become a public charge within five years after the date of their entry due to causes that preexisted their entry. These public charge grounds are of recurring interest to Members of Congress because of questions about whether aliens who receive various forms of public assistance are inadmissible or deportable on public charge grounds.
The INA does not expressly define what it means for an alien to be a public charge, and, prior to 1996, there was no statutory guidance on what was to be considered in determining whether an alien is inadmissible or deportable on public charge grounds. Then, in 1996, the INA was amended to require that certain factors be taken into account when determining whether aliens are inadmissible on public charge grounds. These factors include the alien's age, health, family status, financial resources, education, and skills. There is no similar statutory guidance on what factors are to be considered in determining whether an alien is deportable on public charge grounds.
Given this general lack of statutory guidance, the executive and judicial branches initially construed the meaning of public charge in adjudicating cases involving individual aliens. In so doing, administrative authorities interpreted public charge differently for purposes of the grounds of inadmissibility than for the grounds of deportability. Specifically, public charge was construed broadly in the context of admissibility, with determinations based on a "totality of the circumstances" test that considered factors like those codified in the INA in 1996. In contrast, in the context of deportability, "public charge" was construed more narrowly. Aliens could only be found to be deportable on public charge grounds if (1) they received government assistance that they were legally obligated to repay; (2) the government entity providing the assistance demanded repayment; and (3) the alien or the alien's sponsor was unable to pay.
Following the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, executive agencies issued guidance regarding the public charge grounds. While PRWORA generally restricts noncitizens' eligibility for "public benefits," it permits them to receive specified benefits. Thus, its enactment raised questions about whether aliens who receive benefits for which they are eligible under PRWORA could potentially be removable on public charge grounds. Immigration officials addressed these questions in a 1999 policy letter that defined public charge and identified which benefits are considered in public charge determinations. This policy letter underlies current regulations and other guidance on the public charge grounds of inadmissibility and deportability.
Collectively, the various sources addressing the meaning of public charge have historically suggested that an alien's receipt of public benefits, per se, is unlikely to result in the alien being deemed to be removable on public charge grounds. Neither the INA nor implementing regulations address the role that receipt of public benefits plays in public charge determinations. Other agency guidance and court decisions have generally indicated that, while receipt of certain public benefits could be considered in public charge determinations, other factors are also considered (e.g., age, obligation to repay).