FEDERAL AGENCIES ISSUE REGULATION ON REQUIREMENT THAT UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IMMIGRANTS BE REPORTED TO THE INS The 1996 welfare reform law requires federal agencies to report any immigrant to the INS that the agency “knows” is not lawfully present in the US. Last week four federal agencies issued a notice stating the standard for “knowing” a person is not lawfully present. The agencies are the Social Security Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The law creating the reporting requirement does not define what is meant by knowledge, a word that has special legal meaning in addition to the common sense definition. To develop a definition for use in the reporting requirement, the affected agencies consulted with one another and reached the following conclusion. An agency will “know” an immigrant is not lawfully present only when unlawful presence has been found through administrative review of the alien’s application for benefits. Merely finding no record of the alien in federal databases is not sufficient for “knowledge” of unlawful presence.
The federal agencies are not to undertake a determination of whether a person is lawfully present except insofar as is necessary to determine whether they are eligible for the benefit sought. Some opponents of immigration have complained that this rule guts the reporting requirement, but it does ensure that federal agencies not familiar with immigration law do not make determinations about a person’s immigration status. < Back | Next > Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk. | 
