I have found this
Prudent restrictions on providing welfare to recent immigrants long has been part of the American tradition. Becoming a charge was grounds for deportation in the
Massachusetts Bay colony even before the American Revolution. America's first immigration law, passed by Congress in 1882, instructed immigration officials to deport
any person who, in their opinion, might become a public charge. Today, the Immigration and Nationality Act declares unequivocally: "any alien who, within five years
after the date of entry, has become a public charge from causes not affirmatively shown to have arisen since entry is deportable." The problem is that this provision of
the law is ignored.
... on a clearly anti-immigrant paper. Found with Google on a cached page.
And I found this on a pro-immigrant page.
http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/pubchg/pubchgspcl.htm
"In sum, only if an immigrant receives a cash benefit for income-maintenance within five years of entry or is institutionalized for long-term care (despite the eligibility limitations), there is a demand for repayment by the benefit-granting agency, and the sponsor or other responsible party fails to repay, can the immigrant become deportable as a public charge. Moreover, even in this case, the alien must be given an opportunity to prove that he or she became a public charge for causes that arose after entry. For these reasons, the INS does not anticipate any significant increase in cases of deportability on public charge grounds resulting from the new enforceable affidavits of support."