GOP Senators Press Agencies on Immigrant Welfare Benefits

THE HILL

By Peter Schroeder

August 6, 2012

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/1007-other/242341-gop-senators-press-agencies-on-immigrant-welfare-benefits

A handful of top Senate Republicans are "shocked" that the Departments of Homeland Security and State do not take into consideration the vast majority of federal welfare programs when considering the admission of immigrants.

The ranking GOP members of the Senate Budget, Finance, Judiciary and Agriculture Committees accused the departments of applying a "cramped" interpretation of immigration law, prohibiting officials from considering the likelihood an individual would receive welfare benefits from 78 different federal support programs in determining whether to grant admission to an immigrant or change their immigration status.

Under immigration law, immigrants can't qualify for admission to the United States or receive a green card if they are likely to become "public charges," which are defined as individuals that are primarily dependent on the government for support.

In a letter sent Monday, Sens. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Charles Grassley (Iowa), Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Pat Roberts (Kan.), said the departments' interpretation of the law undermines "both congressional intent and sound immigration policy." The letter was sent to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"It has long been a sound principle of immigration law that those who seek citizenship in this country ought to be financially self-sufficient," they wrote. "We were thus shocked to discover that both the State Department and DHS exclude reliance on almost all governmental welfare programs when evaluating whether an alien is likely to become a public charge."

According to the senators, the departments only take into account reliance on two programs to assess whether an immigrant is likely to become a public charge — Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

The senators said they recently discovered that departments were ignoring most welfare programs in weighing immigration applications, and demanded answers on the policies. They want to know how the exclusions are justified, and how many visa applicants in the last decade were denied because of the likelihood of becoming a public charge. They also asked how many aliens issued visas or admitted to the United States in the last decade ended up meeting the definition of public charges after admittance. If such data is not available, the senators asked for an explanation as to why it is not being tracked.