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"Legal Immigrants Deserve a Safety Net"
By George Soros
One year ago today, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, a
welfare bill that among other things, eliminated public assistance
for
many legal immigrants.
Although legal immigrants represent only about 6 percent of those on
public aid, they took the brunt of the cuts made by the welfare law.
Reductions in benefits to legal immigrants represented more than 40
percent of the savings in the new welfare law. Many of those targeted
to
lose benefits were people who could not support themselves; they were
too
disabled, too old or too frail to work.
Not surprisingly, elderly and disabled legal immigrants panicked when
they learned that they could lose their Medicaid or Supplemental Security
Income. They feared that they would be kicked out of nursing homes
and
hospitals. For most of these immigrants, these benefits are the difference
between having a place to live and being homeless.
Because of a public outcry, Congress, in the recently passed balanced
budget legislation, restored Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid
benefits for those elderly and disabled legal immigrants who lived
in the
United States before the welfare reform bill was signed.
But the job of restoring the safety net to legal immigrants is only
half finished. The balanced budget legislation did not fix all the
problems created by last year's welfare law.
First, Congress should restore Federal food stamps to legal immigrants
who are scheduled to lose them. Beginning today, roughly one million
legal
immigrants will lose the food stamps they currently depend on. Two-thirds
of those households have children. As a result, state and local
governments may be pressured to make up at least some of the lost
benefits, and soup kitchens and food pantries may have to handle larger
numbers of needy people.
Second, Congress should provide a basic safety net for legal immigrants
who arrived after the welfare reform bill was passed. Such legal
immigrants will now be denied disability benefits and food stamps,
should
they need them.
Third, Congress should provide the Immigration and Naturalization
Service with the resources and authority necessary to streamline the
naturalization of prospective citizens, without compromising the integrity
of the process. There are now more than 1.4 million applicants waiting
to
become citizens; they can expect to wait an average of 21 months.
The welfare reform law broke the long-standing agreement between future
citizens and their adopted homeland. Legal immigrants share the same
responsibilities as citizens. They pay taxes. They serve in the military.
The United States has always embraced legal immigrants, who enrich our
culture and work hard to make our nation stronger. But just like anyone
else, immigrants can sometimes fall on hard times.
President Clinton and Congress should do the right thing and
reestablish the contract between legal immigrants and American society.
If immigrants come here and play by the rules, the Government should
guarantee modest help when they need it most. That would be a victory
to
cheer.
