作者： root

李在明誓据韩朝协议推动朝美对话及半岛终战

2026-09-18 17:34 / 联合早报

李在明说，韩国政府会从力所能及的事情着手，让朝鲜半岛重新焕发和平气息。图为李在明星期五（9月18日）在首尔总统府面见媒体。 （法新社）

韩国总统李在明说，《9月平壤共同宣言》及《九一九韩朝军事协议》是韩朝双方为建设一个无需动武的朝鲜半岛共同思考后，作出的宝贵约定，韩方将这一里程碑作为指引，推动半岛和平。

韩联社报道，韩国国会星期五（9月18日）举行《9月平壤共同宣言》暨《韩朝军事协议》签署八周年纪念仪式，李在明在助理代读的贺词中，作出上述表态。

李在明说，2018年在平昌萌发的半岛和平之风，经板门店和新加坡延续到平壤。然而，令人遗憾的是，如今韩朝对话中断，合作之门关闭，敌对和对抗长期持续，给韩国经济和国家安全带来不必要的负担。

在金正恩领导下，朝鲜如今已在宪法和劳动党党章中将韩国明确定义为“最敌对国家”。平壤也多次试射导弹，并强烈批评韩国与美国的军事合作。

李在明指出，与八年前相比，朝鲜的核武能力进一步升级，外部环境也并非有利于韩国，但首尔方面会从力所能及的事情着手，让半岛重新焕发和平气息。

李在明也提到美国特朗普政府近期展现出与朝重启对话的迹象，并称韩方将竭尽全力，使这一努力促成朝美对话，从而引导各方对半岛终战及和平体制进行讨论。

US plans Medicaid most-favored-nation pricing for some drugs in all states, Semafor reports

2026-09-18 9:51 AM UTC / Reuters

U.S. dollar banknote and medicines are seen in this illustration taken, June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Companies

Eli Lilly and Company
Novo Nordisk A/S
Pfizer Inc.

Sept 18 (Reuters) – The Donald Trump administration is set ​to announce on Friday that all 50 states ‌would see most-favored-nation pricing for certain drugs in Medicaid programs, Semafor reported, citing administration plans.

President Trump will host the governors of ​South Dakota, Mississippi and Arkansas in the Oval ​Office “to tout work on lower drug prices,” Semafor said.

The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international misinformation narratives, with a “Real or Fake?” quiz in every edition. Sign up here.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The White ​House and US Department of Health and Human Services did ​not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The US pays more for prescription drugs than any other country, often nearly ​thrice as much as other developed nations. Trump has ​repeatedly said he wants to narrow this gap.

His administration signed deals ‌with ⁠17 of the largest global drugmakers, including Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, starting last year.

The companies agreed to offer lower prices, comparable to what is paid ​in other developed ​countries — referred ⁠to as “most-favored-nation” pricing.

Medicaid, funded jointly by state and federal governments, already draws steep discounts ​from drugmakers, mandated by existing law. Most ​people ⁠covered by the health program for low-income Americans pay little out of pocket for prescriptions.

Last month, the administration announced ⁠a ​new round of drug-pricing agreements with international ​pharmaceutical companies and some smaller biotechs.

Reporting by Anusha Shah and Sriparna ​Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra and Joyjeet Das

New species of wild cat discovered for first time in more than a century, researcher says

September 18, 2026 7:36 AM EDT / AFP

Scientists have discovered a new species of wild cat for the first time in more than a century, a Bolivian researcher told AFP on Thursday.

The Tilcayo tiger cat, a small feline with a spotted, leopard-like coat, was identified in the mountainous Yungas region near the capital, La Paz.

Locals who saw the creature in the Bolivian Andes had mistaken it for an ordinary house cat, said biologist and National Geographic explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, who was part of the research team that studied them.

The nickname “tilcayo” given to the animal by locals inspired its new scientific designation: Leopardus tilcayo.

A Leopardus tilcayo cat, a newly identified species through research led by National Geographic Explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, walks at the Senda Verde animal refuge in the Yungas region of Bolivia on Sept. 1, 2026. Fernando Faciole / National Geographic / Handout via Reuters

Nogales-Ascarrunz lauded the discovery as a “remarkable event, because a new wild cat species hasn’t been described in 100 years.”

The cat is the first feline discovered since the Uruguayan pampas cat in 1923.

The tilcayo is slightly smaller than a domestic cat, measuring around 18 inches, with rounded ears.

A pair of tilcayos — the only such creatures found so far — have undergone whole genome sequencing, Nogales-Ascarrunz said, referring to a type of in-depth genetic testing.

National Geographic Explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz, who led the research that identified Leopardus tilcayo as a new species, observes the cat at the Senda Verde animal refuge in the Yungas region of Bolivia on Sept. 1, 2026. Fernando Faciole / National Geographic / Handout via Reuters

A male tilcayo is living at an animal shelter in Yungas after it was handed over by a family who had taken it in.

A female was rescued and released into the wild after being attacked by locals.

Research on the species was published on Thursday in the journal Current Biology, capping off research that scientists began in 2021.

“So far, it’s only been detected in Bolivia” and not “anywhere else on the planet,” Nogales-Ascarrunz said.

She said the creatures were classified as vulnerable to extinction, but their small numbers meant they could soon be considered “at much greater risk” of dying out.

澳洲将拘留逾期游客加强震慑 业内忧损害国家形象

2026-09-18 17:48 / 联合早报

澳大利亚星期四（9月17日）宣布，将收紧移民政策，包括限制学生签证持有者携带家属入境、遏制跳换签证的行为、加强取缔逾期逗留者等，以削减移民规模，缓解住房危机。 （法新社）

（悉尼法新电）澳大利亚外交部助理部长西斯尔思韦特说，澳洲将拘留逾期逗留的游客，以起到震慑作用。

澳洲政府星期四（9月17日）宣布收紧多项移民签证政策，不再允许留学生携带家属入境，同时以抽签方式发放工作假期签证，并加强取缔签证逾期逗留者。

西斯尔思韦特星期五（18日）透露，逾期逗留者如今已增至7万7000人，当局将把他们送到移民拘留中心，以减少签证逾期逗留者的人数。

他告诉News24电视台，如果有人因旅游签证逾期逗留数周被抓，并在移民拘留中心待上数周，“这样的消息一旦传开后，这种威慑将促使人们遵守相关签证条件”。

澳洲外交部助理部长西斯尔思韦特星期五（9月18日）说，未来签证逾期的游客可能被关进移民拘留中心后遣返，以起到震慑作用。（路透社）

他强调，没有合法权利继续留在澳洲的人将面临后果，并会被遣返。

移民部长伯克星期四宣布，当局将增设250个拘留床位，并增派100名合规执法人员，以将逾期逗留者安置在不同的设施中。

不过，澳洲旅游业委员会首席执行官麦克劳德指出，旅游业是澳洲经济的重要组成部分，讨论拘留游客不利于澳洲的形象。

她说：“我认为这无益于我们作为热情好客旅游目的地的声誉，甚至可能造成相当大的损害。”

澳洲难民委员会政策主管埃卡德则说，这项措施引发安全和法律方面的担忧，以惩罚性拘留改变行为可能不符合澳洲移民法规定。

她也指出，移民拘留系统长期面对人手不足及难以获取医疗服务等问题。

Exclusive: US military moving drones to South America ahead of anticipated counternarcotics operations

2026-09-18T09:00:29.238Z / CNN

The US military is expected to send MQ-9 Reaper drones operating over Africa to the US command responsible for South America, six sources familiar with the planning told CNN, part of a wave of military equipment that has moved to the region as US officials trumpet military partnerships for anticipated counternarcotics and counterterror operations.

Last year, the US military moved a combination of MQ-9 drones, F-35 fighter jets, and at least one AC-130 gunship to the Caribbean as part of its campaign targeting alleged drug boats. But the latest shift comes as Trump administration officials have publicly outlined plans to escalate operations on land with partner nations in South America.

It’s unclear how many of US Africa Command’s MQ-9s will be transferred to US Southern Command; one of the sources familiar said it was “most” of them. That source familiar and two others also indicated the transfer of the drones — used for collecting intelligence and carrying out precision strikes — comes ahead of anticipated counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations in the region, including potential operations in Ecuador. That country began conducting military operations with the US earlier this year against “designated terrorist organizations.”

Another of the sources said there are still discussions underway about whether to send some of the drones to the Middle East, as the US military has lost assets in its war against Iran, including MQ-9s.

The shift away from Africa comes despite ongoing concerns about terrorism on that continent. US military leaders have warned that groups like ISIS and al-Shabaab continue to flourish as the US’ presence has decreased in recent years. Nonetheless, there has remained a steady drumbeat of strikes and joint military operations targeting those groups.

While sources told CNN that the targeting of terror groups would continue, some also voiced concern that transferring assets like MQ-9 drones out of the command’s hands could make those operations more challenging.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth named defense of the US homeland and the western hemisphere as the Pentagon’s number one priority in the department’s official National Defense Strategy released in January. And with competing interests abroad — between the Pacific, the Middle East and Europe — the US military’s activity in Africa has long fallen near last in the list of military priorities.

The Pentagon declined to comment for this story.

CNN previously reported that the Trump administration produced a classified legal opinion last year that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The opinion, which was produced by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, argued that the president is allowed to authorize deadly force against a broad range of cartels because they pose an imminent threat to Americans. It also appeared to justify an open-ended war against a secret list of groups, giving the president power to designate drug traffickers as enemy combatants and have them summarily killed without legal review, according to legal experts.

During remarks at a joint conference in Panama in August, Hegseth praised Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica and Colombia for their partnerships with and invitations to the US to partake in joint military operations against “narco-terrorists” in their countries.

“Colombia has already requested the Department of War join Colombia in its fight against narco-terrorism, authorizing joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terror networks,” Hegseth said.

Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a visit to region that the US was looking to usher in a “golden age” of the relationship with Colombia, saying the “natural state of things” is for the two to be “strong allies and partners.” CNN reported earlier this month that Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella reached an agreement with the US for three MQ-9A Reaper drones to be loaned for monitoring drug-trafficking corridors and carrying out potential precision strikes.

And on Thursday, the US Embassy in Panama announced more than $6 million worth of long-range drone systems — not MQ-9s — were delivered to Panama to give that country’s National Aeronaval Service “the capability to monitor remote borders, safeguard strategic maritime corridors, and dismantle illicit drug trafficking and human smuggling networks.”

The Defense Department has already spent months conducting strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which have killed at least 230 people.

Law enforcement officials and experts previously told CNN it’s unclear if the strikes have had any real, lasting impact on the region’s drug trade. One official said that a projected drop in the amount of seaborne cocaine seized could be explained by cartels finding new routes or ways to traffic in drugs. Another expert said that trafficking is typically not done through the kinds of boats that have been targeted, calling the strike campaign “performative.”

In recent weeks the US has largely undertaken a change of tactics, interdicting more than a half-dozen boats, removing their crews and transferring them to partner countries before sinking the boats.

Rubio said the change stemmed from the US conducting the operations in coordination with other countries.

“When you’re conducting a joint operation in territorial waters, you have to reach an understanding as to how those operations are going to occur,” Rubio said. “And every one of these countries have their own laws, they have their own systems that they have to comply with. Some can be more aggressive than others.”

However, the US has not abandoned strikes on crewed boats. The US military said it had killed three crew members during an attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean on September 9.

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report

‘Unprecedented’: Judges reveal behind-the-scenes coordination on Trump immigration cases

September 18, 2026 5:30am EDT / Fox News

What judges shared behind the scenes remains unclear as Trump DOJ raises recusal concerns over their public comments

By Alec Schemmel Fox News

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Federal judges in Minnesota tasked with deciding a flood of habeas petitions challenging the detention of immigrants swept up during President Donald Trump’s Operation Metro Surge weren’t working entirely on their own — behind the scenes, they were regularly consulting one another through running email threads and developing tools to quickly handle recurring legal questions.

The behind-the-scenes coordination among Minnesota’s federal bench, revealed in a New York Times report Thursday, included regular meetings, running email threads, an informal spreadsheet created by court clerks showing which judges to turn to with particular legal questions and templates some judges developed to quickly issue orders when similar detention disputes repeatedly came before the court.

The disclosures are fueling questions over whether the judges were colluding on separate cases involving the same Trump administration immigration policies, or simply sharing expertise to manage an extraordinary caseload.

FEDERAL JUDGE TIES ICE AGENTS’ HANDS WITH RULING ON WARRANTLESS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ARRESTS

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).(Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The idea of a running email chain involving a variety of cases — it strikes me as very weird and frankly unprecedented,” Robert Luther III, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School whose work includes federal courts and judicial ethics, told Fox News Digital. Federal judges can and routinely do consult colleagues, Luther said, particularly about procedural or evidentiary questions. But each judge is ultimately responsible for independently deciding the cases assigned to them — a distinction Luther said makes the coordination significant.

The disclosures have also drawn criticism from the Trump administration on two fronts. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) General Counsel James Percival accused the former chief judge who led the district during Metro Surge of “essentially conspiring with his judicial colleagues” to thwart federal immigration enforcement. The Justice Department (DOJ), meanwhile, questioned the decision by sitting judges to give extensive on-the-record interviews about their experience with the administration’s immigration operation.

Seven of the district’s judges spoke to the Times for Thursday’s report, including former Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz, who sat for a 90-minute interview about the court’s experience during Metro Surge. Schiltz declined to discuss ongoing cases, according to the Times, but described what happened in Minnesota’s federal court as having “created a grave threat to the rule of law.”

“It is remarkable that sitting federal judges are giving on-the-record interviews attacking this Administration’s policies rather than ruling from the bench,” a Justice Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “If judges followed the law in adjudicating cases, there wouldn’t be an ‘overwhelming’ habeas caseload. Judges who have made public comments on pending or related matters should consider whether recusal is warranted going forward.”

OBAMA, BIDEN JUDGES DRAW FRESH FIRE AS TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION COURT CLASHES HEAT UP: ‘ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE’

But Chief Judge Eric Tostrud, who was himself among the Minnesota judges interviewed by the Times, rejected suggestions that the coordination described in the report compromised individual decision-making. He told Fox News Digital that every member of the bench independently decided the merits of each petition assigned to them, while pointing to an extraordinary surge in litigation — from 12 alien-detainee habeas petitions during all of 2024 to 1,427 through August of this year — and noting that many involved similar or identical, often novel, legal questions.

“The bottom line is that each of us made an independent decision with respect to the merits of each and every petition we were assigned,” Tostrud told Fox News Digital.

Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 24, 2026.(Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

Tostrud stressed that the judges did not uniformly reach the same conclusions, saying that while some reached the same result on certain legal questions, they “reached different outcomes regarding other legal questions.” He said the judges’ ability to communicate helped them resolve the cases quickly and thoughtfully, regardless of whether individual petitions were granted.

What exactly the judges were sharing behind the scenes, however, remains unclear. Tostrud declined to disclose the contents of the court’s internal working materials, saying documents created by judges and court staff “are not public.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S IMMIGRATION PUSH FUELS ICE’S BIGGEST ARREST MONTH IN AGENCY HISTORY

That distinction could be significant, according to Luther, who said administrative templates are commonplace in federal courts, but drew a line between those and templates touching the substance of a case.

“Templates that deal with administrative matters strike me as entirely appropriate and commonplace in federal courts,” Luther said. “Templates for substantive matters — that seems like something altogether different.”

The coordination unfolded amid a broader clash between Minnesota’s federal bench and the Trump administration over Operation Metro Surge. The dispute came as immigration litigation inundated the district. During the first three months of 2026, Minnesota’s federal court received 1,116 habeas petitions, compared with just two during the same period the previous year, according to the Times. Court staff worked 16-hour days, seven days a week, to process the incoming cases.

Observers record while federal agents conduct immigration enforcement operations Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Ryan Murphy, File)

Patrick Schiltz, who served as the district’s chief judge during Metro Surge before taking senior status — a form of semi-retirement — this summer, emerged as a prominent judicial critic of the administration’s handling of the operation. In a Jan. 28 order, Schiltz accused ICE of violating nearly 100 court orders during that month and warned that “ICE is not a law unto itself.”

OBAMA JUDGE’S PECULIAR TRUMP REBUKE IGNITES FURY OVER ‘UNPROFESSIONAL’ LANGUAGE: ‘EMBARRASSMENT’

The cases cited in Schiltz’s January list of alleged violations have largely concluded, according to the Times, which reported that the administration ultimately corrected the issues flagged by the court in many of them.

DOJ said its review of the cases found that in the “large majority” of them, detainees were released on time and no violation occurred, while in most of the remaining cases the department said it ultimately did what the court ordered despite missing an additional deadline.

Minnesota’s federal bench is facing scrutiny over behind-the-scenes coordination while handling a flood of immigration cases stemming from President Donald Trump’s Operation Metro Surge.(iStock/Sarah Yenesel via Getty Images)

MASSACHUSETTS’ HIGHEST COURT PUBLICLY REPRIMANDS JUDGE ACCUSED OF ENABLING IMMIGRANT TO ESCAPE ICE

Federal judicial ethics rules generally prohibit judges from publicly commenting on the merits of pending or impending cases, but permit judges to explain court procedures and engage in broader speaking and teaching about the law, legal system and administration of justice.

The DOJ argued that judges who publicly commented on pending or related matters should consider whether recusal is warranted. The Times reported, however, that Schiltz declined to discuss ongoing cases, while Judge Nancy Brasel, a Trump appointee who also participated in the interviews, defended judges’ ability to speak publicly about judicial independence.

“We are allowed to speak out about judicial independence,” Brasel told the Times. “And so we should, in order to keep it.”

Luther, however, took a different view of the judges’ decision to participate in the interviews.

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“Judges should be speaking through their judicial orders, not through their surrogates at The New York Times,” he told Fox News Digital.

Alec Schemmel is a Politics Reporter for Fox News Digital who is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina but now resides in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore Metro Area.

美伊冲突引发能源等危机 分析：全球经济回旋余地缩小

2026年9月18日 18:04 / 联合早报

国际重要航道霍尔木兹海峡仍被封锁，对全球能源供应持续造成影响。图为阿曼这端的海峡。 （路透社）

（华盛顿综合电）美国和以色列今年2月袭击伊朗引发的能源危机，造成史上最大规模的全球能源流动中断。尽管油价飙升、中东冲突扩大、燃料短缺和通胀压力加剧，人们担心的经济崩溃始终没有发生，多数经济体勉强撑了过去。当前仍应注意的是，全球应对冲击的回旋余地正在缩小。

《纽约时报》星期四（9月17日）报道，中国削减原油进口，加上美国、日本和欧洲多个国家动用战略储备，一度缓解了压力。

然而，经济合作与发展组织38个成员国的石油库存水平，已降至数十年来最低水平。波斯湾地区一些替代运输路线，比如沙特阿拉伯的东西输油管道目前也无法运行。这意味着，经济应对冲击的回旋余地正在缩小，前景也日益黯淡。

曾担任美国国务院国际能源协调员的前官员、国际能源问题专家戈尔德温（David L. Goldwyn）预计，2027年的油价将维持在每桶80美元至100美元，燃料及化肥等相关产品价格上涨，还将进一步推高食品和运输成本。

凯投宏观（Capital Economics）首席经济师希林（Neil Shearing）说，中东地区能源运输航道受阻，将导致通货膨胀加剧。“目前的情况是，库存水平极低，而且霍尔木兹海峡尚无重新开放的迹象。”

延伸阅读

美国对伊朗开战半年耗资380亿美元 补充武器库存或需至少五年

卡塔尔LNG出口停摆 迫亚洲发展中国家另辟蹊径重塑能源结构

亚洲开发银行预测，亚洲的通胀率预计将从去年的3.0％升至今年的5.2％。希林说，从现在到至少明年中，欧洲、英国和美国的通胀率将在3.5％至4％之间。

纽时分析指出，对物价的担忧正使各国中央银行面临加息压力，而加息将推高借贷成本并拖累经济增长。对像德国这个处于衰退边缘的国家而言，这将是一个沉重打击。

此外，美伊战争引发的连锁反应重创波斯湾地区的经济。国际货币基金组织（IMF）预测，作为液化天然气主要出口国的卡塔尔，它的经济今年将萎缩8.6％。沙特阿拉伯第二季度经济同比萎缩4.8％。

分析也说，尽管美国在很大程度上免受最严重的经济冲击，但这种情况可能会改变。戈尔德温说：“当你的所有贸易伙伴都深受高物价困扰，食品和运输成本都在上涨，你终究无法摆脱这些影响的。”

能源价格并非唯一的隐忧。关税正在推高成本，影响制造商和消费者。世界粮食计划署上个月警告，与厄尔尼诺现象相关的天气状况，可能导致多达5000万人陷入严重饥饿。

Warren Buffett stepping aside as Berkshire Hathaway chairman

Updated on: September 18, 2026 / 7:01 AM EDT / CBS News

By Brian Dakss Senior Editor

Warren Buffett is stepping aside as Berkshire Hathaway chairman, he announced in a letter to shareholders Friday.

The 96-year-old billionaire and legendary investor will become chairman emeritus and stay on the company’s board of directors, Berkshire said.

Buffett’s son, Howard Buffett, will become Berkshire’s new chairman under terms of a longstanding successor plan, the company said.

“Father Time always wins,” Buffett wrote in the letter. “He has, however, been generous with me. He has given me the opportunity to see Berkshire reach a point where I am more confident than ever about what lies ahead. The company is in excellent hands, and I look forward to remaining a shareholder alongside you.”

Then-Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett walks through the exhibit hall as shareholders gather to hear from him at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha on May 4, 2019. Scott Morgan / REUTERS

Buffett’s move came several months after he stepped down as Berkshire CEO and handed the reins of the multinational conglomerate to his hand-picked successor, Greg Abel, who is now 64.

Buffett spent six decades transforming a struggling textile manufacturer into one of the world’s most successful companies.

As Berkshire’s CEO, Abel has been tasked with upholding its decentralized model — one of the company’s hallmarks — while guiding it into a new era of growth.

In recent years, that growth has slowed as the company has ballooned in size, making it harder to find large, meaningful acquisition targets.

Buffett tapped Abel as his successor as CEO in May 2025, saying at the time that he planned to step down as CEO.

The move surprised many investors, as it was widely assumed Abel would not take over until after Buffett’s death.

习近平是否将访美？中国外交部没正面回应

2026年9月18日 16:23 / 联合早报

距离中国国家主席习近平预计访美的日子不到一周，美方曾称日期为9月24日，但中国至今尚未证实。有记者向中国外交部提问习近平是否将访美，以及何时访美，中国外交部没有正面回应。

中国外交部发言人郭嘉昆星期五（9月18日）在例行记者会上，回应中美两国元首会晤提问时说，中美双方就年内元首互动安排保持着沟通。

在这之前，中国外交部官网公布，外交部长王毅星期四（17日）同美国国务卿鲁比奥通电话，双方着重就两国高层交往进行了深入讨论。官网新闻稿也没有提及中美元首何时会晤。

王毅在通话中说，一段时间来，中美关系总体沿着两国元首确定的建设性战略稳定轨道前行，这有利于回应国际社会的期待，并强调元首外交是中美关系的定盘星。

王毅也说，双方要本着平等、尊重、互惠的精神，筹备好下阶段高层交往，加强沟通、推进合作、管控分歧，尊重彼此核心利益，发出中美致力于推进建设性战略稳定关系、共促世界和平与发展的正面信息。

Why Trump’s new rule for green card applicants is sparking controversy

2026-09-18T10:00:29.456Z / CNN

A new Trump administration rule that is expected to make it harder for many legal immigrants to obtain green cards if they receive or are deemed likely to need public assistance is set to take effect Friday – even as lawsuits seeking to halt it wind their way through federal court.

The effort is one of President Donald Trump’s latest moves to curb the number of immigrants in the US, including residents already living here legally.

What’s more, the rule could prompt many green card applicants and their families to forgo receiving needed federal aid to avoid becoming considered “public charges” and hurting their chances of being approved.

Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s changes to the “public charge” rule:

Federal immigration officers have long reviewed green card applicants to ascertain whether they have the financial means to support themselves, among other considerations, to obtain permanent residency.

The Immigration Act of 1882 allowed the US government to deny entry to applicants deemed likely to be unable to take care of themselves and wind up dependent on government assistance – in other words, become “public charges.”

In 1999, the Clinton administration defined a public charge as someone “primarily dependent” on government benefits. It considered only cash aid, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid for long-term institutional care.

The first Trump administration sought to widen that definition to encompass non-cash benefits, such as food stamps, Medicaid and housing subsidies. It announced the broader rule in 2019 and put it into effect in 2020.

However, the following March, a federal court nullified the rule, and the Biden administration rescinded it. Biden officials then issued a new rule in 2022 limiting consideration to cash benefits only and clarifying that family members’ use of federal benefit programs does not have an impact on applicants’ reviews.

The new rule is similar to what was implemented by the first Trump administration but more expansive.

The latest rule, published in July, allows immigration officers to consider a wider array of public assistance programs when determining whether green card applicants will likely become “public charges.” It also rescinds the 2022 rule.

“Under @POTUS Trump, DHS is restoring the basic principle that immigrants must be able to support themselves,” the Department of Homeland Security posted to X at the time. “We are reaffirming the requirement of self-reliance, protecting public resources, and ending policies that encouraged dependency on hard-working American taxpayers.”

The new rule does not specify which safety net programs should be considered, saying only that DHS “will consider the receipt of any means tested public benefits.”

That could potentially include a wider array of income-based assistance, such as food stamps, Medicaid, childcare subsidies, housing vouchers and Head Start, as well as certain tax breaks, such as the child tax credit, Maddie Geschu, director of policy and advocacy at the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition, told CNN in July.

Also, the new rule allows immigration officers to consider government benefits applied for on behalf of family members, including children who are citizens.

About 588,000 applicants are subject to public charge reviews annually, on average, according to DHS.

But the so-called “chilling effect” could have an even wider impact as applicants and their families opt to stay away from safety net programs for fear of being denied green cards.

DHS estimates that about 950,000 people may opt to leave or not enroll in six public benefits programs it examined, including Medicaid, food stamps, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and federal rental assistance.

Undocumented immigrants would not be affected since they do not qualify for public aid.

Immigration advocates fear that the rule will deter eligible family members from applying for or remaining enrolled in public safety net programs, including school meals and WIC, which provides nutrition assistance and counseling to pregnant women, new mothers and young children.

“No parent should ever have to choose between feeding their children and keeping their family together,” Clarissa Hayes, deputy director of child nutrition programs and policy at the Food Research & Action Center, told reporters earlier this week. “We cannot allow fear and confusion to determine whether or not a child will have enough to eat.”

Also, the revised rule “really opens the green card process to abuse based on partisan politics or personal bias,” Geschu told reporters.

Earlier research on the prior Trump administration rule found that participation in programs among immigrant families and citizen children declined in 2019 and 2020, even among those not subject to it at the time, the advocates said.

Similarly, the latest effort would have widespread consequences. Some 3.7 million members of immigrant households could lose Medicaid, food stamps, housing benefits and other assistance, according to a George Washington University study published in December that analyzed the proposed rule. State economies could lose $27.4 billion as healthcare providers, grocery stores and other businesses lose revenue. Up to 212,000 jobs could be lost.

Why have some states and cities filed lawsuits?

A coalition of 22 states and the District of Columbia, led by New York, are suing to block the rule. A group of cities, led by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has filed a similar lawsuit. They were both filed Monday in the Southern District of New York.

The states argue they would lose billions of dollars in federal funding if immigrants, particularly mixed-status families, disenroll from safety net programs due to fears about immigration consequences. And they say that the new rule gives “unfettered discretion for immigration officials to determine who can be excluded on public charge grounds.”

The determinations could “fundamentally depart from the core meaning of the term” public charge, according to the filing.

The cities, meanwhile, say in their filing that the rule will harm their public health and economic interests, including shifting costs for healthcare, food and housing to the cities and hurting their labor forces.

The rule is scheduled to go into effect on Friday, unless it is blocked in court.

Federal District Court Judge Ronnie Abrams of the Southern District of New York, an Obama appointee, set an initial conference for October 9 for the lawsuit brought by the states.

CNN’s Gloria Pazmino contributed to this report.