Momentum For Immigrant Amendments Builds As TANF Bill Is Extended For Three Months Without Change

IMMIGRANTS & PUBLIC BENEFITS

Congressional Developments

Momentum for immigrant amendments builds as TANF bill is extended for three months without change
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 18, No. 3, May 20, 2004

Senate action on legislation to reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for five years was suspended in early April when Senate Democrats and Republicans were unable to agree on how the bill should move forward. Several proposed amendments to the TANF reauthorization bill that would benefit immigrants had gained momentum in the weeks leading up to the anticipated consideration of the bill.

The Senate began debate on the reauthorization bill on Monday, Mar. 29, 2004, but Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) pulled it from the floor three days later, after failing to win a procedural vote to end debate. Although senators filed more than 50 amendments to the bill, they voted on only one, offered by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT), which would add $6 billion in child care funding over the next five years. The child care amendment passed by a vote of 78-20.

Among the immigrant-related amendments that have gained momentum are the following:

Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act (ICHIA). Filed by Senators Bob Graham (D-FL) and Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), this provision would give states the option of providing Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) benefits to lawfully present pregnant women and children, regardless of when they entered the United States.

TANF state option. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) filed an amendment that would grant states the option of providing TANF to “qualified” immigrants during the five-year period during which they currently are barred from receiving TANF benefits. Under current law, “qualified” immigrants who entered the U.S. on or after Aug. 22, 1996, must wait five years from their time of entry before they are eligible for TANF-funded services, including child care, education and job training programs (such as vocational English-as-a-second-language programs), and transportation vouchers. This amendment would give states more flexibility to design programs that serve their low-income populations.

Section 411 (states’ use of their own funds to provide services). Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and John Cornyn (R-TX) offered an amendment that would clarify that state and local governments can continue to use their own funds to provide health services—including primary and preventive health care—to immigrants, without being required to enact a new law.

Women Immigrants Safe Harbor Act (WISH). Sen. Clinton planned to offer an amendment that would allow victims of domestic violence, trafficking, and crime (“U” visa applicants) to receive TANF, Medicaid, SCHIP, food stamps, housing assistance, and Supplemental Security Income.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for refugees, asylees, Cuban/Haitian entrants, and other immigrants who were admitted for humanitarian reasons. Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-WI) planned to offer an amendment that would extend SSI eligibility to these categories of immigrants for two additional years, so they would be eligible for nine instead of only seven years. Representatives Ben Cardin (D-MD), Amo Houghton (R-NY), Phil English (R-PA), Sandy Levin (D-MI), and Nancy Johnson (D-CT) introduced a similar bill in the House of Representatives.

Although the next steps in this debate are not clear, Congress has extended the current program without change until June 30, 2004. This is the sixth extension of the TANF program since the original authorization expired in 2002. Advocates for immigrants continue to pursue strategies for passing the above amendments.