News/Commentary

‘Time to fleece the taxpayers’: Dems unveil bill to eliminate ‘xenophobic’ wait for illegals to get handouts

June 16, 2023 | | Print Article

As American communities continue to drown in a tsunami of illegal migrants, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wants to overturn a Clinton-era law that requires most who come across our borders to wait five years after scoring their official before reaping the benefits of taxpayer-funded federal programs such as Medicaid, food stamps, and other handouts.

In 1996, Congress passed the waiting period as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. It passed both the House and Senate by 3-1 margins, and then-President Bill Clinton signed it into law.

Under the newly proposed “Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration (LIFT the BAR) Act,” introduced by Jayapal, Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), the “harmful barriers to federal public benefits for immigrants” would be removed.

According to the press release:

The Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration (LIFT the BAR) Act eliminates the current five-year waiting period for access to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This will restore access to critical aid for Green Card holders, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, individuals granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), and other lawfully present immigrants.

 

Evidently, Jayapal considers Bill Clinton to be “xenophobic.”

“As an immigrant who came to this country alone at the age of 16, I’m proud to be leading this legislation to finally eliminate cruel, xenophobic, and unreasonable barriers to health care, nutrition assistance, and other life-changing public benefits,” she said in the statement. “Immigrants and families should not have to wait to access these basic services. The LIFT the BAR Act is an urgent, necessary, and just step towards ensuring we treat immigrants with the respect they deserve.”

Hirono called the waiting period “arbitrary.”

“Immigrants play integral roles in our communities and should not have to endure an arbitrary waiting period just to access essential benefits,” she said. “For more than 25 years, unjust policies have prevented millions of lawfully present immigrants from accessing critical services and programs, including quality health care, food and housing assistance, economic support, and more. As we work to support immigrant communities in Hawaii and across the country, the LIFT the BAR Act will eliminate harmful barriers and allow immigrants and their families to lead healthier, safer, and more secure lives.”

Worth noting is the language of the original 1996 Act, which suggests that the waiting period does not apply to a lot of people or many “critical services”:

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Subtitle A: Eligibility for Federal Benefits – Prohibits Federal public benefits (as defined by this Act) to aliens who are not qualified aliens (as defined by this Act). Stipulates that such prohibition shall not apply to: (1) emergency medical services; (2) certain emergency disaster relief; (3) public health immunizations and treatment of communicable diseases; (4) housing assistance; (5) certain in-kind community services; and (6) Social Security Act benefits under specified circumstances.

…

(Sec. 403) Makes qualified aliens ineligible (with limited exceptions for refugees, asylees, and veterans and active duty personnel) for Federal means-tested public benefits (as defined by this Act) for the first five years after U.S. entry. Provides a special rule for certain Cuban and Haitian entrant assistance.

 

But, according to Congressman Cárdenas, anyone who manages to gain access to America should be entitled to American money, despite having never contributed to the communities in which they land and regardless of whether they have any demonstrable skills or even the intention of doing so in the future.

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Because moving to another country is hard and their “financial security” is important.

“Growing up in an immigrant family, I saw firsthand how important access to public benefits was,” Cárdenas said. “Families that are working toward a better life here in America should not have to wait five years to access resources they need to survive and thrive. Our legislation will eliminate the unnecessary waiting period for lifesaving aid and ensure our immigrant communities have the financial stability for a better future.”

On Twitter, people appear to have different priorities.

“Why don’t you try helping the homeless that are legal instead of pushing benefits for illegals which they don’t deserve,” one user asked Jayapal. “Pathetic!!!”

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According to one Twitter user, the legislation is the very picture of “America Last.”

“Wow this [is] absolutely what America LAST looks like,” the user tweeted. “Shameful.”

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Melissa Fine
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