Immigration Laws: March, 1995 - Number #7

The General Accounting Office on February 2, 1995 released a report that concluded that immigrants are twice as likely as US citizens received benefits from the Supplemental Security Income and Aid to Families with Dependent Children programs in 1993. Half of the immigrant recipients of SSI and AFDC are in California, which had 38 percent of all immigrants in the March 1994 Current Population Survey (CPS). Immigrants received an estimated $3.3 billion of the $24 billion in SSI benefits in 1993, and $1.2 billion of the $22 billion in AFDC payments.

Both the Clinton Administration and the Republicans "Contract with America" would reduce the eligibility of aliens for these benefit programs. Currently, legal immigrants, refugees, asylum applicants, and certain other PRUCOL (persons residing under color of law) aliens are eligible to apply for these benefits. However, US immigration law permits aliens seeking entry to be excluded if they are likely to become a public charge. An alien can pledge to be self-sufficient by providing proof of sufficient personal resources, a job offer that offers a sufficient wage, post a bond, and/or have a US resident sponsor sign an affidavit that promises to support the alien if necessary.

It is estimated that 90 percent or more of the family-sponsored immigrants admitted to the US obtain bonds from US residents in which the US sponsor promises to support the immigrant if he/she cannot support him/her self. Several courts have ruled that these affidavits of support are not binding on the US resident. For this reason, sponsorship rules were changed to require that, if a sponsored immigrant applies for SSI or AFDC benefits after arrival, a portion of the sponsor's income and other resources will be "deemed" to be available to the immigrant as part of their income in determining whether the immigrant is eligible for benefits. This deeming period is three years after arrival for sponsored immigrants applying for AFDC, and five years for immigrants applying for SSI.

The Clinton Administration's proposal would extend the deeming period for both SSI and AFDC to five years, and maintain the eligibility for cash assistance of current recipients. The House Republicans proposal would, one year after enactment, make all aliens ineligible for AFDC and SSI for six years after their arrival, except for refugees and aliens 75 and older who have lived in the US at least five years.

If access to benefits were restricted as proposed by the Clinton Administration, program savings may be $1 to $5 billion annually; the House proposal might result in program savings of $2.5 billion annually. Savings estimates are difficult to make because aliens denied federal benefits may turn to state and local government programs, naturalize, turn to sponsors for support, or not immigrate.

The IRS is checking the validity of claims for refunds that low-earners can receive under the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC is a negative income tax, paying up to $306 to single workers, and $2,528 to a family with two or more children. About 15 million people in 1994 received $20 billion EITC on their 1993 earnings, including 2.2 million receiving $2.3 billion in California. The average payment nationwide is about $1200.

There has been a sharp growth in the number of Hispanic-surnamed persons filing for EITC in California, prompting speculation that immigrants are applying. Nancy Bolton of the UCLA Business Forecasting Project obtained data on tax returns in 1989 and 1992, and found that there was a 12 percent increase in the number of Hispanic households filing California tax returns, and that their mean income fell by 13 percent to $20,629 in 1992. Mean Asian household incomes in California, by contrast, were $33,266 in 1992, and mean non-Hispanic white incomes were $40,443.

RA Zaldivar," IRS Crackdown delays refunds for many low-income families," Knight -Ridder, February 9, 1995. "Welfare Reform--Implications of Proposals on Legal Immigrants Benefits," Government Accounting Office, February 2, 1995, GAO/HEHS-95-58 (GAO, Washington DC, 20548).