Updated April 2005
Introduction
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (“1996 welfare law”) imposed severe restrictions on legal immigrants’ access to public benefits. While access to some of these programs has been restored gradually, immigrants and refugees are still barred from receiving many life-sustaining benefits.
The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program was among those hardest hit by the provisions of the 1996 welfare law. SSI is a need-based program that provides a basic monthly income to people who are age 65 or older, disabled, or blind. While most new immigrants are barred from receiving this benefit, certain provisions were made for refugees
The current SSI rules for refugees are as follows:
A refugee may receive SSI benefits permanently if he/she:
- was receiving SSI prior to 8/22/96; or
- entered the country before 8/22/96, but became disabled or blind after 8/22/96.
A refugee may receive SSI benefits during his/her first 7 years in the United States if he/she:
- entered the country before 8/22/96, but reached age 65 after 8/22/96; or
- entered the country after 8/22/96 and was, or later became, age 65, disabled, or blind.
The 7-Year Cut-off
The 7-year provision has the effect of cutting off benefits to refugees who cannot become naturalized citizens in their first 7 years in the United States. While it is technically possible for refugees to become citizens within this period, there are practical reasons why this often does not occur.
- In order to complete the naturalization process, refugees must pass an English language and civics test. This poses a significant barrier to many elderly refugees who have difficulty learning English.
- After a refugee has resided in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for five years, he or she is eligible to apply for citizenship. Due to lengthy processing delays and other bureaucratic problems in the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, some refugees are unable to naturalize within this time despite fulfilling the requirements.
- Asylees are subject to an arbitrary cap on the number of persons who may become LPRs each year. Federal law limits LPR status to 10,000 asylees per year, regardless of the actual number of persons who have been granted asylum. This has resulted in a backlog of up to 15 years and, consequently, further delays in the naturalization process.
August 22, 2003 marked the 7-year anniversary of the welfare bill, thereby cutting off eligibility for SSI benefits to the first significant wave of refugees. The Social Security Administration (SSA) reports that as of December 2004,4,392 refugees had their benefits suspended due to the 7-year limit. While there is no data available on the number of individuals who will lose their benefits in the coming years, best estimates show that approximately 40% of cases projected to reach the seven year mark actually result in a termination of benefits. Thus, between 2004 and 2010, an estimated 20,000 individuals will lose their SSI. Of this number, 8,000 will be refugees from the former Soviet Union.
SSI benefits are the sole source of cash income for many elderly and disabled refugees. Unable to work, they rely on their monthly check to cover basic expenses such as food, rent, and medications.
Reform Proposals
In his fiscal year (FY) 2005 and 2006 budget requests, President Bush acknowledged the problem of deserving refugees losing their access to benefits and proposed a short-term one-year extension of eligibility. While a positive initiative, Congress still needs to pass legislation to ensure that these vulnerable migrants receive necessary protections from benefit cut-offs.
On February 17, 2005, Senators Smith (R-OR) and Kohl (D-WI) reintroduced legislation to provide a two-year extension of eligibility for elderly and disabled refugees, as well as a provision to cover those who lost benefits prior to enactment of the legislation (S.453). They were joined by Senators Lugar (R-IN), Feingold (D-WI), Brownback (R-KS), Lautenberg (D-NJ), and Clinton (D-NY). On the same day, Representatives Cardin (D-MD) and English (R-PA) reintroduced a companion bill (H.R. 899), along with Representatives Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), McDermott (D-WA), and Becerra (D-CA). On March 9, 2005, the Senate Finance Committee passed its version of the welfare reauthorization legislation, known as the PRIDE Act, which included a two-year extension of SSI eligibility. While numerous steps remain before this proposal becomes law, this is a significant step in achieving an extension of SSI this year.
Conclusion
Refugees and asylees come to the United States as humanitarian migrants, seeking safe haven from oppression and persecution. As such, the U.S. has the responsibility to care for these individuals and should provide for their well being if they fall on hard times. It should be noted that many of these refugees, while not citizens themselves, have citizen or LPR children who work and pay taxes to support our federal welfare system.
HIAS supports both partial and complete reform to restore SSI benefits. Additionally, HIAS endorses the elimination of the asylee adjustment cap, as well as reform at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to minimize backlogs. HIAS also supports language and other training programs to facilitate the naturalization of as many refugees as possible.
For purposes of the this document, “refugees” includes refugees, persons granted asylum or withholding of deportation/removal, Cuban/Haitian entrants and Amerasian immigrants are subject to these requirements.
The welfare bill went into force on 8/22/96.
While this provision does not directly extend to those over the age of 65, the majority of these elderly immigrants should be able to meet the requirements as “disabled” and thus receive the benefit.
Other significant populations of refugees projected to lose benefits include Indochinese, Cubans, and former Yugoslavs. |
