12/16/25 - Disability and immigration, forgotten solutions, and holiday gifts

Greeting

I'm sorry about missing Monday. I had an unexpectedly full day. So yesterday's links become today's.

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Tell DHS Not to Move Forward with “Public Charge” Rule

American Association of People with Disabilities - December 12, 2025

"This change could lead DHS officials to make decisions about individuals seeking to immigrate to the United States or renew their visa or Green Card based on stereotypes about people with disabilities. DHS actually suggests in the introduction to the proposed rule that disability will be a negative factor in immigration decisions. Such a shift would greatly harm immigrants and their families, especially disabled immigrants, by barring individuals from entering the United States as a legal immigrant or updating their immigration status based on subjective opinions about the likelihood of someone with a disability one day needing to access public benefits such as Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)."

This rule change would be a real insult and threat to disabled immigrants, both current and future. On that basis alone we should oppose it. But it's also a chilling signal for how disabled citizens are regarded ... as "burdens to the state" rather than human beings with dignity and value. It would be no comfort at all to me, knowing that I, personally, probably qualify as a citizen and a "heritage" American by J.D. Vance and his ethno-nationalist buddies who are pushing a ridiculously narrow definition of who counts as a proper American. The proposed rule change wouldn't apply to me in any legal sense. But it would certainly undermine my own sense of belonging and safety as a disabled US citizen. Technical, bureaucratic changes like this can have profound effects on disabled people. We can't shrug them off or let them pass without objections.

What happened to the invalid carriage?

Celestine Fraser, Body Babble - December 12, 2025

"But most often, invalid carriage is synonymous with the iconic Invacar: a pale blue motorised tricycle with a fibreglass shell which, from the ‘50s to the ‘70s, was leased by the UK government to qualifying disabled people. The 'classic' blue invalid carriage is often the AC Model 70 Invacar, but variants were made by other manufacturers, like the Thundersley or Tippen Delta."

This is a bit of disability history that is completely new to me. And Celestine covers it beautifully, highlighting the Invacar's real liberating qualities at the time, it's major flaws and dangers, and why there is nostalgia for it in the UK – both genuinely affectionate from disabled people, and politically toxic from right-wing populists. At the moment, I can't think of an equivalent piece of disability-adaptive equipment here in the US – one that was once iconic, loved, and hated, and almost impossible to find today. If you can think of another piece of our physical disability history like the Invacar, send me an email at: apulrang@icloud.com.

2025 Disability Holiday Gift Guide

Emily Ladau - December 9, 2025

"I started doing this in 2014, and here we are all these years later, sharing the work of disabled entrepreneurs, disabled writers, and disability-led organizations."

Eleven years! That's an impressive run for any recurring piece of disability-related content. And as far as I know, Emily and Kate's guide is unique – or very nearly so. Most of the disability-related holiday gift guides I have found promote products for disabled people, without necessarily highlighting things produced and sold by disabled people. Both sorts of lists are useful. But I look forward to this one every year because of its emphasis on disabled people making, selling, and otherwise distributing cool stuff.

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