Ben D’Avanzo
bendavanzo.bsky.social
Ben D’Avanzo
@bendavanzo.bsky.social
Advocate for health equity and economic justice for the National Immigration Law Center. Also neighborhood and housing issues as a hobby. Dad of 2 cute wild kids.
Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo
Ask yourself why there wasn’t this level of wall to wall coverage for this shooting wgme.com/news/local/i...
ICE agent who shot woman in Chicago drove Border Patrol vehicle back to Maine
An unnamed ICE agent, who shot and injured a woman in Chicago, is now back in Maine after driving the Border Patrol vehicle he was in 1,100 miles.
wgme.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo
"Justo" is harvesting lettuce in Madera County CA. He labors 6 days a week, working 8-10 hrs shifts. "It's hard repetitive work. We have to be bent over all the time. We cut the lettuce clean off the extra leaves bag it and put it in a box. I earn minimum wage." #WeFeedYou
November 27, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Anticipating that relatives will claim "illegal" immigrants get benefits over Thanksgiving turkey today? Check out our primer!

www.nilc.org/resources/fa...
Fact Checking Immigrants, Health Care, and the 2025 Tax and Budget Law
In response to misinformation about the 2025 reconciliation law, particularly regarding undocumented immigrants’ health care eligibility, this resource addresses misleading claims and explains why the...
www.nilc.org
November 27, 2025 at 2:55 PM
The Trump administration tried to block refugees from getting SNAP once they get their green card. States are rightfully suing www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
USDA’s SNAP guidance unlawfully cuts legal immigrant groups, lawsuit says
A suit filed by 22 Democratic attorneys general says the One Big Beautiful Bill does not support the directive in a memo sent to states last month.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:28 AM
The Trump administration is prioritizing tearing apart families who do all the right things www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo
@kff.org analysis finds that almost half of noncitizen adults living in the U.S. have one of the health conditions that may be grounds for visa denial based on new State Dept. guidance. The analysis also finds that noncitizens are much less likely than U.S. citizens to have one of these conditions.
November 25, 2025 at 5:02 PM
CMS data sharing with ICE is was temporarily blocked by a court this summer. I imagine this new policy will not be the final say on this privacy betrayal www.manatt.com/insights/ins...
November 26, 2025 at 6:39 PM
This is an important victory for the basic tax privacy of everyone

For years the IRS said tax filing data would not be used for immigration enforcement. Then it betrayed all that, en mass, earlier this year.

This ruling blocks these data betrayals
November 22, 2025 at 12:38 AM
The IRS announced today that it plans to take the unprecedented step of denying tax credits to work authorized, lawfully present immigrants home.treasury.gov/news/press-r...

This is absurdly unprecedented and cruel discrimination
Treasury Moves to Prevent Abuse of Refundable Tax Credit Benefits by Illegal Aliens
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced today that it will issue regulations concerning the treatment of certain refundable individual income tax credits under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). Treasury will issue a forthcoming notice of proposed rulemaking to clarify that the refunded portions of certain individual income tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Saver’s Match Credit, are “federal public benefits” within the meaning of PRWORA. Accordingly, illegal aliens and other non-qualified aliens would no longer be able to receive these benefits funded by the American taxpayer.“Under President Trump’s leadership we are enforcing the law and preventing illegal aliens from claiming tax benefits intended for American citizens. Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy and the Internal Revenue Service have worked tirelessly to advance this initiative and ensure its successful implementation,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Their diligence and professionalism reflect this Administration’s determination to uphold the integrity of our tax system. We will continue to ensure that taxpayer resources are directed only to those who are entitled under the law.”The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel recently issued an opinion adopting this interpretation. Treasury plans to promptly issue a notice of proposed rulemaking that accounts for the Department of Justice’s legal analysis, and Treasury's final regulations are expected to apply beginning in tax year 2026. This action represents a victory for President Trump’s commitment to enforcing our immigration laws and preserving taxpayer-funded benefits exclusively for those who are legally entitled to receive them.To view the Department of Justice opinion click here.
home.treasury.gov
November 20, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Note that the first sentence of this story is a bit inaccurate. The Trump admin isn't proposing restoring his original, expansive, public charge rule but rather ending the 2022 Biden rule, leaving basically no regulations in place
BREAKING: Trump is restoring a rule that penalizes lawfully present immigrants who use Medicaid, arguing that “government benefits should not incentivize immigration.”

Advocates warn the rule will cause both individual suffering & negative population-wide effects.

www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Trump revives policy penalizing immigrants for using safety net programs
The public charge rule makes it harder for legal Medicaid enrollees to obtain a green card.
www.politico.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:50 PM
The Trump administration today proposed to end a 2022 public charge policy that had given immigrants certainty about how this centuries old wealth test will apply to them.

It appears they are replacing it with chaos and only allowing 30 days for public comment
NILC Statement on Trump’s New Attempt to Resurrect Harmful “Public Charge” Wealth Test
www.nilc.org
November 17, 2025 at 10:31 PM
This rampant disregard for religious institutions by ICE and CBP come from an end to the Sensitive Locations policy, that had, for years, restricted enforcement actions at churches, hospitals, etc www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
November 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo
“Many of the women say that they were pressured to have unwanted or unnecessary gynecological procedures while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement”
November 15, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Mass deportations hurt families
"Deportation has taken away the father I once knew and given me back a person I no longer recognize." Vanessa Lopez, audience engagement specialist at the Chicago Sun-Times writes:
He worked hard to give me a home. ICE took his: How I lost my father to deportation
chicago.suntimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Watching SNL on Sunday night, as one does, and the Weekend Update writers should have read this!
A man collapsed in the Oval Office yesterday. The internet got the story wrong.

My experience struggling to correct the record — including on Bluesky! — and the warning signs as AI, aggregation, and social media increasingly drive our news consumption.
A man collapsed in the Oval Office. The internet got the story wrong.
A case study in how bad information can spread — and how hard it is to correct it.
dandiamond.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo
This is the result of Trump’s reconciliation bill, which made refugees and asylees ineligible for federal benefits until after getting their green cards.

That said; I don’t think there are many Ukrainians who came through the refugee program. Some asylees, yes.
As millions face the first lapse in SNAP benefits in U.S. history, one group has been frozen out entirely: Ukrainian war refugees.

All Rise News viewed some of the letters refugees received before the suspension with little public attention.

Full story www.allrisenews.com/p/ukrainian-...
November 9, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Mass deportations and ICE chaos are forcing children into working or taking care of siblings instead of going to school blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/07/a...
Attendance Drops At Chicago Schools In Communities With Increased Immigration Enforcement
In the four weeks since the start of Operation Midway Blitz, attendance at one school with a large immigrant population dropped by 4 percentage points — nearly three times the attendance drop citywide...
blockclubchicago.org
November 7, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo
This really hasn’t gotten enough attention this week.

@wired.com #ICE
www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...
November 5, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo
How many kids first experience of the state will be of masked men grabbing people?
November 5, 2025 at 5:35 PM
If you can't read what you're being asking to sign, it should never be considered you agreeing to it. And being lied to by your interpreter might be worse.

Language access should be a civil right but so often is not treated that way.
The declarations keep coming back to the ways in which the awful conditions themselves were used to coerce deportations.

Here, one lawyer describes how his client, who had a work permit, US citizen children, and a strong case for relief, was coerced into giving up his case.
November 4, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Ben D’Avanzo
There is also universal agreement that medical care in the facility is terrible, and that people were not being provided access to care they needed.

This excerpt expresses a common theme; people who asked for help were largely ignored or given little treatment.
November 4, 2025 at 10:39 PM
30 years ago Congress screwed up anti-poverty programs, deemed "welfare reform," justified by false stereotypes of black women and immigrants.

With the AI SNAP videos and the White House's lies about their budget bill, it seems like the worst of politics hasn't changed much
November 1, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Day 1 of ACA open enrollment!

✔️It's great that people have access to ACA coverage!
✔️It's bad that millions of families have higher premiums because Congress is failing its job
✔️It's bad that 100ks of immigrant families now can't get help at all

Everyone should shop for their best options anyway
November 1, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Immigrants are being used to advance authoritarian actions. Case in point, false claims about voting noncitizens will be used to block people from being able to vote propublica.org/article/dhs-...
DHS Agreement Reveals Risks of Using Social Security Data for Voter Citizenship Checks
A recently released agreement gives the Department of Homeland Security access to hundreds of millions of Americans’ Social Security data. It contains alarmingly few provisions to ensure accuracy and ...
propublica.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Here's another scenario:

Two parents: both 35 years old
Two kids: 3 year old twins
All are green card holders who moved to the U.S. four years ago, thus ineligible for Medicaid

Income: $30k
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Plan: Oscar Silver Classic Standard

2025 Monthly Premium: $0
2026 Premium: $1,446.47
October 29, 2025 at 3:48 PM