Progressives Fight to Give Immigrants Immediate Access to Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Federal Benefits
FAIR Take | June 2023
Last week, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D.-Wash.), Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Cal.) and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) announced the re-introduction of legislation that would make legal permanent residents immediately eligible for all major federal benefits programs beginning day one.
The legislation, called Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration (or LIFT the BAR) Act eliminates the current statutory five-year waiting period for immigrants to be eligible for all of the major federal benefits programs. These programs include 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 (otherwise known as Social Security Disability). The bill would not only provide immediate access to these benefits for green card holders, it would also provide it to illegal aliens whose deportations have been deferred such as DACA beneficiaries, TPS beneficiaries, parolees, and others.
The bill does not stop with federal benefits. Based on the same legislation introduced by these Members in 2021, the LIFT the BAR Act would also make green card holders and lawfully present aliens immediately eligible for state and local benefits. It also repeals current law that requires a sponsor’s income to be attributed to the immigrant’s income for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits programs.
The five-year waiting period was passed by Congress in 1996 (and signed into law by President Bill Clinton) in support of a long-standing policy that foreign nationals emigrating to the United States should not become a fiscal burden to Americans—including generations of immigrants who have already settled in the U.S. For example, Section 212(a)(4) of the INA expressly states that an alien is inadmissible as an immigrant if he or she “ is likely at any time to become a public charge.” The same section requires that family sponsors of immigrants sign affidavits of support, pledging to accept financial responsibility for the individual they sponsor to come to the U.S.
The progressive Democrats sponsoring the LIFT the BAR Act, however, do not see this as reasonable or common-sense public policy. To the contrary, in her press release announcing the legislation, lead sponsor Representative Jayapal said, “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.” Senator Hirono similarly remarked, “Immigrants play integral roles in our communities and should not have to endure an arbitrary waiting period just to access essential benefits.”
The cost of such legislation could easily reach well into the billions. But that has not deterred Democratic support for the legislation. The last time the LIFT the BAR ACT was introduced (in 2021), it had the support of 100 co-sponsors. This version of the bill is likely to see the same level of support. The authors also boast of support from nearly 200 open-borders organizations. Fortunately, this bill is not likely to move in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.