PRESIDENT’S NEW IMMIGRATION BUDGET INCLUDES VISA EXPEDITE FEE, RESTORATION OF WELFARE BENEFITS

The welfare reform law passed in 1996 denied food stamps and many other welfare benefits to many legal immigrants.  Since then the Clinton Administration has made numerous efforts to restore eligibility to many legal immigrants.  The latest of these is found in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2001, which begins on October 1, 2000. 

The overall budget of the INS would increase 11 percent to .8 billion.  If approved, it would conclude a 219 percent increase in INS funding since 1993, when President Clinton took office.

The Administration’s budget includes a request for .5 billion over the next five years to restore certain welfare benefits to immigrants.  It would provide Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid to legal immigrants who entered the US after August 22, 1996, have been here five years, and became disabled after entry.  It would also allow legal immigrants who entered before August 22, 1996 to receive food stamps if they reached age 65 after entry or live in a house with a child who is eligible for food stamps.  Finally, it would allow states to provide Medicaid and access to the Children’s Health Insurance Program to legal immigrant children and pregnant women regardless of their date of entry.

The proposed budget includes other service-oriented items that are of interest to the immigrant community.  It request million to fund the English Language/Civics Instruction Initiative, a program designed to help immigrants with limited English proficiency learn both the language, history, and skills for integrating into US society.  The budget also includes million for the INS to address application backlogs, specifically naturalization and adjustment of status.  It would establish a million Immigration Services Capital Investment Account to provide funding for continuing efforts to reduce backlogs.  A 00 premium service fee paid by businesses that want expedited processing of their applications and by section 245(i) penalty fees, assuming the section is reinstated, would fund this account. The inclusion of this budget item also sends an obvious signal that President Clinton will push for restoration of Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This section of the law, in effect from 1994 to 1998, allowed many people ineligible to process an adjustment of status application because of previous status violations to pay a 00 penalty and proceed with processing.  The budget also contains an exhortation by the President for Congress to continue debate on restructuring the INS.

Not surprisingly, the proposed budget calls for increases in enforcement resources, including the addition of 430 new Border Patrol agents, 115 new immigration inspectors at land ports of entry and 154 new inspectors at airports.  People who follow immigration on the congressional front doubtless suspect that the Administration’s request for only 430 Border Patrol agents does not sit well with Congress, and they would be correct.  The very day the budget was announced congressional Republicans came out against the proposal.  Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) criticized the President for proposing increased spending on teachers and police before addressing the congressional mandate that 1000 new Border Patrol agents be hired each year through 2001. 

The Administration takes the position that the tight labor market makes hiring 1000 agents impossible, and also argues that current agents need more training to raise the experience of the agency as a whole before another major round of hiring takes place.