This study examines how the 2019 revision to the public charge rule affected immigrant prenatal participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). We focus on the anticipatory effects of the policy announcement and the role of communication and perceived risk in shaping program uptake, even among individuals not directly targeted by the rule. Using a quasi-experimental design, we assess changes in prenatal WIC participation across five distinct policy phases, disaggregated by race-ethnicity cohorts. We find that announcements of the proposed and final rule led to significant declines in prenatal WIC participation among Hispanic immigrant women, with white non-Hispanic immigrant women responding only to the final rule. No significant changes were observed among Black non-Hispanic immigrant women. The actual implementation of the rule, delayed by court injunctions and complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, had minimal impact, while the reinstatement of the 1999 Field Guidance was associated with a rebound in prenatal WIC enrollment. These findings underscore the importance of policy communication and the unintended consequences that unclear messaging can have on access to critical safety-net programs among immigrant communities.
