White House restores food stamps to legal immigrants

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February 2002

Bill signed to 'close the gap' in education
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White House seeks to restore food stamps to legal immigrants

White House seeks to restore food stamps to legal immigrants
In his February budget proposal to Congress, President Bush requested $2.1 billion for the restoration of food stamps to over 350,000 legal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. Under Bush’s proposal, legal immigrants would be eligible to receive benefits after five years residency in the U.S. In the sweeping welfare reform of 1996, immigrants who arrived after August of that year were denied supprort from federal nutrition aid programs.

This recent move by the White House is a hopeful sign for many who found the exclusion of immigrants one of the hardest pills to swallow in the welfare reform of 1996. The restoration measure now appears to have bipartisan support and is expected to become law.

Network lobbyist Mary Elizabeth Clark, S.S.J., hopes that "the decision by the President to reduce the waiting time for immigrants from 10 to 5 years will motivate Republican members of the conference committee on the farm bill to include a stronger and fairer food stamp provision for immigrants."

Clark says, "Network believes that food stamps should be provided for people on the basis of need and not according to immigration status."

Bush's proposal marks a major change from 1996 when many Republicans characterized aid to noncitizens as an incentive to immigrants to come here with no intention of finding employment. The New York Times quotes Senator Phil Gramm (R - Tex.) in 1996, saying, "Immigrants should come to the U.S. with their sleeves rolled up ready to work, not with their hands out, ready to go on welfare."

While food stamp provision is actually legislated in the farm bill, the whole of the 1996 welfare reform law (The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996) is due for reauthorization this year. A bill sponsored by House Democrats was introduced January 24th and is being dubbed by its sponsors "the next step in welfare reform," that is, seeking to reduce poverty itself.

Lead sponsor Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) says the bill would "continue the expectation that welfare recipients move toward employment, but it would also do more to help them escape poverty and move up the economic ladder, a true measure of the success of welfare reform." He also makes note that one of every six children in the U.S. still lives in poverty. The bill would increase the Child Care and Development Block Grant to $8 billion per year by 2007 and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grant to $18.7 billion per year.

Welfare reform reauthorization will be a major focus for social-justice lobby groups like Network, who have been concerned about the 1996 reform since its inception and are eager to see substantial changes in new legislation. "While the reform act was originally formulated in a time of economic strength, it will have to be re-evaluated in the current situation of economic slowdown and its implications on the poor of our country," says Network's Stephanie Niedringhaus.

According to Niedringhaus, economic downturn is the greatest threat to those already at the bottom of the economic ladder. In the last few months, homeless shelters and soup kitchens have seen a dramatic increase in need and jobs have become harder to find.

Network began the Welfare Reform Watch Project in 1996 and has continued to study the effects of the legislation on America's poor. Its 2001 report, "How do we define success?" is the result of a survey of almost 900 people in emergency service facilities in ten states. The report reveals the fallacy of many welfare reform success stories and finds that the working poor must often resort to emergency services because their income and welfare benefits are not enough to feed their children. It also finds that Latinos are disproportionately affected by the changes in the 1996 welfare reform.

Reauthorization of the welfare reform act must take place by September 30, 2002.—Tara Dix

For more information see:
The Administration for Children and Families
Urban Institute on Welfare Reform

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