Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have passed a bill that would allow some immigrants to again receive food stamps. The bill passed the Senate on May 12, 1998 with a vote of 92-8 and the House on June 4, 1998 with a vote of 364-50. The bill, S. 1150, will restore food stamp benefits to some 250,000 children, elderly and disabled immigrants who were settled in the U.S. by August 22, 1996. Congress has also paved the way for certain refugees and those with political asylum to receive benefits for seven years after they arrive in the U.S. This is partially seen as a response to the growing citizenship application backlogs which are now as long as four years in some parts of the country.
In addition, Congress restored benefits to Hmong refugees and certain Native American groups that cross back and forth along the U.S. – Mexico and Canada borders. President Clinton has indicated that he intends to sign the bill into law.
The restoration of food stamp benefits did not come easily. Some House Republican leaders opposed the provision. However, the food stamp provision was part of a large agriculture bill that would benefit traditionally Republican farmers. Both the importance of the farm vote and the defeat of a procedural move to strip the bill of the food stamp provision made the House Republican leadership change their minds and vote for passage of the bill.
In a related story, Physicians for Human Rights released a report in late May showing alarmingly high numbers of food insecurity and hunger among immigrants in California, Texas and Illinois. The organization urged Congress to pass the food stamp litigation as a preventive measure, because the money spent on food stamps now could lessen the future public medical expenses incurred as a result of severe hunger.
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