[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 32 (Thursday, March 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2236-S2238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ELDERLY IMMIGRANTS AT RISK OF LOSING SSI

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, we have received early reports from the 
Social Security Administration large numbers of of elderly legal 
immigrants who will lose their SSI benefits under the new welfare law 
unless Congress acts to help them.
  In Social Security field offices across the country, the same reports 
are being heard. Elderly immigrants come into the field offices after 
receiving a notice that their SSI benefits will be terminated unless 
the immigrants can prove U.S. citizenship. Many of these immigrants are 
citizens, but they cannot remember where they stored their 
naturalization certificate. Most are very old and often infirm. 
Sometimes they are too infirm to remember whether they were naturalized 
or not.
  For example, two elderly women, both over 90 years old, were senile, 
and confined to a convalescent home. They sought help from SSA after 
receiving the notice that their SSI payments would be terminated. Both 
women say they were born in the United States, but they cannot prove 
their citizenship.
  Another woman, born in Ireland over 80 years ago, came to the US when 
she was 2. Her parents were naturalized, but she has no proof that she 
was. She has never left the United States, and believes she is a 
citizen, but she has no way to prove it.
  The Social Security office in New York City reports that a woman's 
85-year-old daughter came to inquire about her 105-year-old mother's 
termination notice. She stated that her mother was born in New York 
City, but has no birth certificate. Her mother has been receiving SSI 
benefits since 1976. The only way to find a record of her birth is to 
search the New York City birth records from 105 years ago. No one knows 
if the birth was even recorded.
  These are just a few stories of the hundreds coming into Social 
Security offices since the termination notices were mailed a few weeks 
ago. Several recent news articles have reported stories of legal 
immigrants about to lose their benefits. I ask unanimous consent that 
these stories may be placed in the Record following my statement. 
Unless Congress intervenes, the consequences of the welfare bill will 
be too harsh.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              [From the Des Moines Register, Mar. 3, 1997]

                        Overwhelmed by Overhaul

                          (By Shirley Salemy)

       Israel and Faina Staroselsky are snared in the intricacies 
     of the new welfare overhaul law.
       The couple, both 68, fled anti-Semitism in Ukraine five 
     years ago. They applied to become naturalized U.S. citizens 
     seven months ago. They're still waiting, they say.
       And if they don't get citizenship soon, they'll lose their 
     Supplementary Security Income.
       ``We got this letter,'' said Israel Staroselsky, pointing 
     to a memo from the Social Security Administration. ``If we 
     are not able to prove our American citizenship by May, we 
     will lose all sources of life.''
       If the federal welfare overhaul is a gigantic jigsaw 
     puzzle, the pieces that shape assistance to poor, elderly and 
     disabled legal immigrants may be the most intricate--the ones 
     that remain on the card table the longest.
       The rules are complicated, and people like the Staroselskys 
     aren't the only ones confused. Lawmakers are, too.


                           a dramatic change

       ``Generally, I think the Legislature is real confused'' 
     about the ins and outs of the law, said Sen. Maggie Tinsman, 
     R-Bettendorf and co-chairwoman of the joint human services 
     appropriations subcommittee.
       ``It's always confusing when the law changes,'' Tinsman 
     said. ``This is a dramatic change. And people always think 
     the worst.''
       Generally, the new law prohibits non-citizens who are not 
     new refugees, U.S. military veterans or have not worked and 
     paid taxes

[[Page S2237]]

     in America for at least 10 years from getting most forms of 
     public assistance--that is, Supplemental Security Income, 
     food stamps, Medicaid and cash assistance for families.
       It also bars new arrivals--immigrants who came to the 
     United States after Aug. 22, 1996, the day President Clinton 
     signed the bill--from receiving most public benefits during 
     the first five years in the country.
       But the states have some options to provide more help. Iowa 
     officials say that's what they will try to do.
       The Department of Human Services is proposing to continue 
     benefits for some of the immigrants who would be cut off. 
     State welfare officials are holding community forums around 
     the state to explain the new law.
       For immigrants who were already here when Clinton signed 
     the law, DHS intends to continue providing cash assistance in 
     its core program, called the Family Investment Program, and 
     Medicaid.
       ``We felt it was a humanitarian thing to do,'' said Ann 
     Wiebers, DHS welfare reform coordinator.


                          appropriation needed

       But it's up to the Iowa Legislature to appropriate money 
     for the program. Tinsman thinks lawmakers will concur with 
     the department's decision.
       The department would need to use a pool of state funds to 
     help new arrivals in those programs. For the Family 
     Investment Program alone, the estimated cost over the next 
     two years would be an additional $702,237.
       Tinsman said lawmakers are concerned about legal immigrants 
     who haven't become citizens.
       ``We suspect most of them are elderly and in nursing 
     homes,'' she said. ``We have money in the budget to take care 
     of that.''
       She said new arrivals must have sponsors to come to the 
     United States. Sponsors must now sign binding affidavits of 
     support--which means they're held financially liable for 
     immigrants who fall into distress.
       ``I think they're going to be covered, just not by 
     government,'' she said.
       Sen. Johnie Hammond, D-Ames, who also serves on the 
     subcommittee, said the panel hasn't talked about the way the 
     new law affects legal immigrants.
       ``We need to look at who's falling through the cracks and 
     do we really want them to fall through the cracks,'' Hammond 
     said.


                          effects aren't known

       Advocates, meanwhile, say the way the new law will play out 
     in Iowa is still unclear.
       ``The law is still so new,'' said Ta-Yu Yang, a Des Moines 
     attorney who specializes in immigration law. ``We are still 
     talking on the macro stage of what to do here in Iowa, 
     whether to continue some of the benefits or not.''
       But Yang, who is president of both the Asian-American 
     Council and the Taiwanese Association, said: ``I don't think 
     there's any question that so much of the legislation is going 
     to have discriminatory impact. I don't know if they intended 
     it to be that way or not.''
       Terry Meek, executive director of Proteus, a nonprofit 
     group that serves migrant and seasonal farm workers, said 
     such laborers will likely be affected by new food-stamp 
     rules. Now, legal immigrants must work and pay taxes for 10 
     years before they're eligible.
       But many farm workers are paid in cash or through crew 
     leaders, Meek said. She's not sure how those workers will 
     document their work history.
       Sandra Soto, an immigrant-rights advocate at the American 
     Friends Service Committee, thinks that the new law asks 
     welfare workers to become specialists in immigration law and 
     that it's creating a lot of confusion at local welfare 
     offices.


                           there's confusion

       ``I'm not saying they're denying benefits for the sake of 
     it,'' Soto said. ``I'm saying there's confusion. Getting 
     involved in immigration is difficult, because there are huge 
     numbers of proofs of immigrant status.''
       She, too, worries about immigrants who may not have 
     documents to prove their years of work.
       She points to Blanca Vivas, 44, who came to this country 
     illegally in 1986 from Nicaragua. Vivas, speaking Spanish  
     translated by Soto, said she first worked in the fields of 
     the Southwest, received amnesty and eventually came to 
     Iowa and worked in the meatpacking industry. She earned 
     money with a temporary work permit that was renewed last 
     year.
       Debilitating pain in her shoulders and back from the heavy 
     lifting she did prevents her from working any more. She lacks 
     the documents to prove her years of work. And her work permit 
     is no longer valid.
       She now lives in Des Moines with the support of her 
     boyfriend. She'd like to get food stamps and medical help but 
     knows she's not eligible.
       ``I think ignorance has led us to many bad things,'' she 
     said. ``It's one of the major barriers. Even if we have good 
     work ethics, we are coming to a country where the culture, 
     the language and many other things are different.''


                              New Citizens

       Immigration and Naturalization Service officials 
     conservatively anticipate more than 2,000 immigrants will 
     naturalize during fiscal 1997.
       The welfare law is playing a role in the boom, said Michael 
     Went, deputy director of the INS office in Omaha, which 
     oversees Iowa. But he also thinks people are simply taking 
     the final step in the immigration process.
       The Staroselskys believe it's their only chance.
       ``If we will not become citizens according to the new law, 
     we will lose all of this,'' Israel Staroselsky said, sitting 
     at a table in the couple's one-bedroom apartment.
       They left Kiev as refugees. He was a cardiologist, she was 
     a pediatrician. They aren't certified to practice medicine in 
     the United States, so he worked for two years as a researcher 
     in Des Moines, then retired.
       If they had known about these changes when they were still 
     in Ukraine, their decision to come might have been different.
       ``We came five years before,'' Israel Staroselsky said. 
     ``If we had known about this law, it could be another 
     decision.''
       Blanca Vivas, 44, is one of many workers hurt by new 
     requirements that legal immigrants must work and pay taxes 10 
     years before they can get food stamps. She's worked in this 
     country since 1986 but lacks documents to prove it. Now she's 
     disabled, and her work permit is no longer valid.
                                                                    ____


         [From the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, Mar. 2, 1997]

                 Older Immigrants Face Welfare Dilemma

       Charlotte--Immigrants in North Carolina face longer waits 
     for naturalization than most other states, making worries 
     about losing welfare benefits more realistic for newcomers 
     from overseas.
       The Charlotte office of the U.S. Immigration and 
     Naturalization Service is ranked among the nation's slowest 
     processing offices, according to a report released Saturday 
     by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
       North Carolinians, who apply for naturalization at the 
     Charlotte INS office, can face between 21 and 28 months of 
     waiting before their citizenship records are processed.
       The wait might mean disabled and elderly immigrants could 
     lose some federal benefits. Under the welfare reforms, 
     recipients of some benefits must become citizens to keep 
     them.
       Those who aren't U.S. citizens and have lived here at least 
     five years are receiving letters saying food stamps and 
     Supplemental Security Income could be eliminated as soon as 
     May. The letter, from the Social Security Administration, 
     also says Medicaid could be eliminated by summer.
       ``There was no exception made for them (in the new welfare 
     law), and that's one of our biggest sore spots,'' said 
     Marlene Myers, coordinator of the N.C. Refugee Office, one of 
     several groups that have met with INS officials to find a way 
     to help these immigrants. ``(The elderly or disabled) are 
     kind of caught in a crack.''
       The Charlotte INS benefits staff processed 2,500 
     naturalization applications two years ago. This year, they 
     expect to handle more than 7,000. Once the welfare law took 
     effect, the office was swamped with applicants.
       ``No one likes to have people wait,'' said Donald Young, 
     officer in charge of the INS office in Charlotte. ``We go 
     along, day in, day out, trudging along. But again, that 
     slowdown is nationwide, not just Charlotte.''
                                                                    ____


           [From the Christian Science Monitor, Mar. 4, 1997]

            Amid Welfare Cuts, States Try to Aid Immigrants

                           (By Skip Thurman)

       An Iranian man living in Denver can't muster the courage to 
     tell his elderly mother--a legal immigrant who has lived in 
     America for almost 20 years--that her monthly checks from the 
     federal government are about to end. His best hope now is 
     that the state of Colorado will continue some of her 
     subsidies.
       Legal immigrants across the US are beginning to see that 
     states as their last best hope to offset the imminent loss of 
     all federal benefits--a cutoff required by the new national 
     welfare-reform law.
       State officials by and large seem to be sympathetic. Of 40 
     states that have filed spending plans, 36 report they will 
     continue benefits to legal immigrants who fall off the 
     federal rolls.
       ``In the small world of welfare, we are in pretty good 
     shape,'' says Dick Powers of the Massachusetts Department of 
     Transitional Assistance. The state has enough money to help 
     needy legal immigrants--at least for now--because it's 
     currently getting more money from Washington than it needs 
     for cash assistance to a dwindling welfare caseload.
       But states with large numbers of immigrants may not have 
     the same luxury. New York Gov. George Pataki (R) anticipates 
     spending an estimated $240 million to cover legal immigrants 
     who will lose federal aid.
       In Texas, Gov. George W. Bush (R) argues that changing the 
     rules for legal immigrants already in the US was unfair.
       ``He has no concern about prospectively saying to future 
     immigrants, `You will no longer be eligible,''' says Bush 
     spokeswoman Karen Hughes. ``But he is calling on the federal 
     government to provide funding for this part of the 
     population.''
       The National Governors Association says many governors, 
     including Mr. Bush, are asking for extra help.
       ``We aren't talking about reopening the welfare bill. We 
     are talking about amending a little thing on the edge of 
     it,'' says Nolan Jones at the NGA.
       President Clinton has put forward a plan to restore many 
     benefits to 350,000 of the 500,000 immigrants most severely 
     affected by

[[Page S2238]]

     welfare reform. Benefits most at risk include Supplemental 
     Security Income (SSI), a monthly benefit (averaging $400 per 
     recipient) that augments the incomes of the aged or disabled; 
     Medicaid, which helps the same group pay medical bills; and 
     food stamps.
       But many lawmakers say revising the law to soften its 
     impact on immigrants is unlikely.
       ``It's just not going to happen,'' says Rep. Clay Shaw Jr. 
     (R) of Florida, who led the charge for welfare reform in the 
     last Congress.
       For one, federal budgeteers would fight such a move. About 
     one-fourth of the savings expected from welfare cuts will 
     come from ending benefits to legal immigrants.
       While Congressman Shaw expects to feel more pressure to 
     revise the law as welfare reform kicks into effect over the 
     next four months, he says. ``We've really got to believe in 
     what we are going to accomplish with this, because we are 
     going to be dogged all the way.'' He points out that 51 
     percent of SSI benefits go to elderly noncitizens, something 
     he says was never intended by the authors of the original 
     legislation.
       Shaw and other Republicans are open to one possible 
     compromise that would provide states with additional block-
     grant money for programs like food stamps. Mr. Clinton has 
     sought to restore $10 billion in benefits. But Republicans on 
     Capitol Hill would approve no more than a total of $2 billion 
     for states.
       The pending cut in benefits has prompted a large number of 
     legal immigrants to apply for US citizenship. Almost 2 
     million are expected to apply this year, three times more 
     than applied in 1995.
       But for elderly immigrants, the naturalization process can 
     be daunting. The US Immigration and Naturalization Service 
     reports that only 9 percent of immigrants older than 65 ever 
     naturalize. Such is the case for the elderly Iranian woman 
     now living in Denver. Her son, who asked not to be named, 
     explains that the entire family fled to the US after the 
     Khomeni government took power in the late 1970s.
       ``She has gone through this before. She was a wealthy woman 
     and had everything taken from her.'' he says. Undergoing the 
     naturalization process, including the exams to become a 
     citizen, would be difficult. ``Her English is still not very 
     good,'' he says ``There is no way she could pass the test.''

                          ____________________