[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 142 (Thursday, July 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39874-39875]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19431]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[AG Order No. 2097-97]


Determination of Situations That Demonstrate a Substantial 
Connection Between Battery or Extreme Cruelty and Need for Specific 
Public Benefits

AGENCY: Department of Justice.

ACTION: Notice of Determination with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (``PRWORA''), as amended by the Illegal 
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, provides 
that certain categories of aliens who have been subjected to battery or 
extreme cruelty in the United States are ``qualified aliens'' eligible 
for certain federal, state, and local public benefits. To be qualified 
under this provision an alien must demonstrate, among other things, 
that there is a substantial connection between the battery or extreme 
cruelty and the need for the public benefit sought. The PRWORA vests in 
the Attorney General the authority to determine under what 
circumstances there is a substantial connection between the battery or 
extreme cruelty suffered by an alien seeking federal, state, or local 
public benefits and the specific benefits sought by the alien. Through 
this notice, the Attorney General is declaring what circumstances 
demonstrate such a substantial connection.

DATES: This Determination is effective July 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to Diane Rosenfeld, Senior 
Counsel, The Violence Against Women Office, United States Department of 
Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20530, (202) 616-8894.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Diane Rosenfeld, Senior Counsel, The Violence Against Women Office, 950 
Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20530, (202) 616-8894.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 431(c) of the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 
(``PRWORA''), Pub. L. 104-193, as added by the Illegal Immigration 
Reform and Immigrant, Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-208, 
provides that certain categories of aliens who have been subjected to 
battery or extreme cruelty in the United States are ``qualified 
aliens'' eligible for certain federal, state, and local public 
benefits. To be a qualified alien under this provision, an alien must 
demonstrate that: (1) The Immigration and Naturalization Service or the 
Executive Office for Immigration Review has granted a petition or 
application filed by or on behalf of the alien or the alien's child 
under one of several subsections of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act, or has found that a pending petition or application sets forth a 
prima facie case; (2) the alien or the alien's child has been battered 
or subjected to extreme cruelty in the U.S. by a spouse or parent of 
the alien, or by a member of the spouse's or parent's family residing 
in the same household as the alien, but only if the spouse or parent 
consents to or acquiesces in such battery or cruelty and, in the case 
of a battered child, the alien did not actively participate in the 
battery or cruelty; (3) there is a substantial connection between the 
battery or extreme cruelty and the need for the public benefit sought; 
and (4) the battered alien or child no longer resides in the same 
household as the abuser.
    The Attorney General has the responsibility for determining the 
circumstances under which an alien has demonstrated a substantial 
connection between the battery or extreme cruelty and the alien's need 
for particular benefits. This Determination sets forth the 
circumstances that, in the Attorney General's opinion, demonstrate the 
requisite substantial connection. Under PRWORA, the Attorney General's 
opinion is not subject to review. When drafting this Determination, the 
Attorney General consulted with federal benefit-granting agencies that 
will be implementing section 431(c) of

[[Page 39875]]

PRWORA and with other interested parties.
    Benefit providers and all other interested parties are requested to 
provide comments on this Determination. Should these comments indicate 
that further refinements to the Determination are necessary, it will be 
revised accordingly.
    Delay in the effectiveness of this Determination would necessarily 
cause further delays in the availability of federal, state, and local 
public benefits to aliens for whom there is a substantial connection 
between the battery or extreme cruelty and the need for those public 
benefits. It would be unnecessary and contrary to the public interest 
to impose further delays on the availability of such public benefits in 
these circumstances. Accordingly, I find that there is good cause to 
exempt this Determination from prior public notice and comment and 
delay in effective date. This Determination is not a ``significant 
regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866 and is not a ``major 
rule'' under 5 U.S.C. 804.

Determination of Situations That Demonstrate a Substantial Connection 
Between Battery or Extreme Cruelty and Need for Specific Public 
Benefits

    By virtue of the authority vested in me as Attorney General by law, 
including section 431(c) of the Personal Responsibility and Work 
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, as amended, I hereby determine 
that an alien applying for federal, state, or local public benefits who 
(or whose child) has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty 
demonstrates that there is a substantial connection between the battery 
or extreme cruelty suffered by the alien (or the alien's child) and the 
need for the public benefit(s) sought under any one or more of the 
following circumstances:
    (1) Where the benefits are needed to enable the alien and/or the 
alien's child to become self-sufficient following separation from the 
abuser;
    (2) Where the benefits are needed to enable the alien and/or the 
alien's child to escape the abuser and/or the community in which the 
abuser lives, or to ensure the safety of the alien and/or his or her 
child from the abuser;
    (3) Where the benefits are needed due to a loss of financial 
support resulting from the alien's and/or his or her child's separation 
from the abuser;
    (4) Where the benefits are needed because the battery or cruelty, 
separation from the abuser, or work absence or lower job performance 
resulting from the battery or extreme cruelty or from legal proceedings 
relating thereto (including resulting child support or child custody 
disputes) cause the alien and/or the alien's child to lose his or her 
job or require the alien and/or the alien's child to leave his or her 
job for safety reasons;
    (5) Where the benefits are needed because the alien or his or her 
child requires medical attention or mental health counseling, or has 
become disabled, as a result of the battery or cruelty;
    (6) Where the benefits are needed because the loss of a dwelling or 
source of income or fear of the abuser following separation from the 
abuser jeopardizes the aliens' ability to care for his or her children 
(e.g., inability to house, feed, or clothe children or to put children 
into day care for fear of being found by the batterer);
    (7) Where the benefits are needed to alleviate nutritional risk or 
need resulting from the abuse or following separation from the abuser;
    (8) Where the benefits are needed to provide medical care during an 
unwanted pregnancy resulting from the abuser's sexual assault or abuse 
of, or relationship with, the alien or his or her child, and/or to care 
for any resulting children; or
    (9) Where medical coverage and/or health care services are needed 
to replace medical coverage or health care services the applicant or 
child had when living with the abuser.
    In the event that the facts presented by the alien are different 
from the situations described above, but the benefit provider or the 
applicant nevertheless believes that the applicant satisfies the 
substantial connection requirement, either the benefit provider or the 
applicant should obtain a determination from the Department of Justice 
as to whether, in the Attorney General's opinion, the applicant's need 
for the benefit is substantially connected to the battery or cruelty. 
Benefit providers or applicants requiring such a determination should 
contact the Violence Against Women Office, U.S. Department of Justice, 
the Director of which is hereby authorized to issue such 
determinations.

    Dated: July 17, 1997.
Janet Reno,
Attorney General.
[FR Doc. 97-19431 Filed 7-23-97; 8:45 am]
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