Continuation of SSI for "Not Qualified" Immigrants Moves One Step Closer to Passage

IMMIGRANTS & PUBLIC BENEFITS

E-Mail Benefits Update

CONTINUATION OF SSI FOR "NOT QUALIFIED" IMMIGRANTS MOVES ONE STEP CLOSER TO PASSAGE
No. 98-15, September 19, 1998

On Friday, the House Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously to endorse legislation, H.R. 4558, that would restore Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid eligibility to elderly and disabled "not qualified" immigrants who will otherwise lose benefits on September 30, 1998. The full House plans to vote on the proposed legislation next week, probably on Wednesday evening, September 23, 1998.

The full text of H.R. 4558, the "Noncitizen Benefit Clarification and Other Technical Amendments Act of 1998," was attached to NILC Benefits Update 98-14 (9/15/98). As we reported in that Update, passage of H.R. 4558 would restore SSI eligibility to all immigrants who were receiving assistance when the welfare law was enacted on August 22, 1996, thus closing one chapter in the effort to roll back the harshest immigrant provisions of the 1996 welfare law.

SSA Cancels New Procedures Due to Pending Legislation

Meanwhile, also this morning, the Social Security Administration (SSA) directed its field offices, "in light of pending legislation," to take no more action on the new SSA procedures for suspending "not qualified" immigrants until further instructions. The agency had issued the new suspension procedures on September 3, with directives to take steps to determine which individuals were truly not qualified and which were miscoded. Today's one-page directive stopping all action (EM-98155) also tells SSA workers that by September 25, 1998, they will receive information about reinstatement of benefits to those already suspended. Please contact the Washington, D.C. NILC office if you would like a copy of the directive.