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The Immigrant Policy Project

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
03/18/98

Funding for cash assistance to immigrant families with children has ebbed and flowed over the past decades with the changing tides of Americans' sentiment toward immigrants. Reflecting the recent negative trend in this sentiment, as well as the pressure to cut spending, the federal welfare reform law of 1996 made significant cuts in public assistance to poor immigrant families. Many states have chosen to pick up at least part of the tab for legal immigrants.

Prior Law

Prior to welfare reform, most legal immigrant families were eligible for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) as long as they met the income and resource requirements applied to citizens. Income eligibility levels and benefit levels were set by each state. During their first three years in the U.S., immigrants were required to include their sponsors' income as their own in eligibility calculations. Many legal immigrants come to the U.S. with the help of citizens who serve as their sponsors. Sponsors must sign affidavits of support indicating their intent to help immigrants obtain legal resident status. Although these affidavits have not been legally binding in the past, immigrants were expected to have access to their sponsors' incomes-thus this income was "deemed" their own in eligibility determination. Some immigrant categories had already been excluded from AFDC assistance under previous law. Only the following groups were eligible: legal permanent residents, refugees, asylees, parolees, Cuban/Haitian entrants, conditional entrants, and those in temporary protected status.

The Federal Welfare Reform Law

The 1996 federal welfare reform law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (P.L. 104-193), replaces AFDC with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. All immigrants are barred from TANF for their first five years in the country unless they become citizens, can demonstrate 40 qualifying quarters of work in the U.S., or meet the five year or military exemptions. Refugees, asylees, those granted withholding of deportation, Cuban-Haitian entrants, and Amerasians, in addition to veterans, active duty military, and their spouses and unmarried dependent children, are exempt from the five-year ban for new immigrants. However, veterans and members of the military are subject to sponsor income deeming requirements.

The law gives states the option to determine the TANF eligibility of immigrants who were in the U.S. on the date of the law's enactment, as well as the option to determine new immigrants' eligibility after the end of their five-year federal bar. States can use federal TANF funds for services to legal immigrants in either of these conditions. States are required by federal law to provide TANF to those qualified aliens who enter the country after enactment and are exempted from the 5 year ban on benefits. When providing assistance to this group, they may use federal TANF dollars. States use solely their own funds when providing assistance to not qualified aliens or to qualified aliens arriving after August 22, 1996 during the five year federal ban.

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997

The 1997 budget reconciliation bill (H.R.2015) adds Cuban-Haitian entrants to the list of qualified aliens exempted from the 5-year ban on TANF benefits.

1997 State Action

This dramatic change in federal policy has effectively dropped the national responsibility for needy immigrant families into states' laps. Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office in 1996 suggest that 420,000 immigrants will lose AFDC benefits as a result of the federal welfare reform law. The value of lost benefits to these individuals is estimated at $1 billion.

In light of this need, many states have chosen to grant at least the bare minimum of services to disadvantaged immigrant families. Most will provide assistance to the following groups: 1) qualified aliens who were in the United States at the time of the federal welfare reform law's enactment; 2) qualified aliens who enter the country after enactment, after their first five years in the U.S.; and 3) qualified aliens entering after enactment who are exempted from the five-year ban.

Assistance to Immigrants Living in the U.S. Prior to Federal Welfare Reform:

According to their state plans, 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico plan to provide TANF to legal noncitizens (qualified aliens) who were in the U.S. as of August 22, 1996, the date of federal welfare reform enactment. Only Alabama and Guam plan to deny such benefits. Idaho will provide TANF to minor noncitizens living in the U.S. prior to enactment; noncitizen parents will not be eligible for TANF but must meet work requirements for the dependent minor to be eligible. Earlier state plans from Kentucky, West Virginia, Louisiana and Wyoming indicated that they would deny TANF to qualified aliens who had been in the country prior to enactment. However, all four states have since clarified or changed their plans to include pre-enactment immigrants.

Assistance to Post-enactment Entrants After the Five Year Bar on Benefits:

Most states are choosing to provide TANF assistance to qualified noncitizens after the five year bar. Federal law allows the use of federal TANF funds for this category of immigrants. However, new immigrants who have sponsors must include their sponsor's income when applying for federal means-tested benefits until the immigrant attains citizenship or 40 qualifying quarters of work. Alabama, South Carolina, and Guam plan to deny benefits to qualified aliens after the five year bar.

Assistance to Post-enactment Entrants During the Five Year Bar on Benefits:

Though post-enactment immigrants may not receive federal TANF money for five years, unless they are exempt from the ban, states can opt to provide state-funded benefits to these immigrants. A small number of states have chosen to do so. Some examples follow.

• Nebraska will continue to serve legally admitted non-citizens under the same program regulations as are applied to other Nebraska families, regardless of their date of entry into the U.S. After the new affidavits of support are released from the federal government, immigrants with sponsors must include their sponsor's income when applying for TANF.
• In Utah, qualified aliens and those permanently residing under color of law (PRUCOLs) will be eligible for the same level of benefits which citizens receive under TANF, for a total of 36 months, regardless of their date of entry. Sponsor income deeming will be required for three years.
• The Washington legislature passed a law to create a state-funded program for legal immigrants and PRUCOLs which mirrors the state's TANF program. Sponsor income deeming is required for five years from the date the sponsor signed the affidavit. The law also requires post enactment immigrant applicants to reside in the state for twelve months before they are eligible for assistance.

Thus far, almost every state has taken steps to ameliorate the loss in welfare benefits to immigrant families. However, few states will provide benefits to those new entrants facing a five-year ban, and unqualified aliens remain largely uncovered by public assistance programs. In addition, states anticipate that coverage to legal entrants will be significantly restricted by the sponsor income deeming requirement. Thus the hole in the immigrant safety net remains until state or federal legislatures choose to further close the gap.

Sources and References

• "Summary of Selected Elements of States Plans for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families," National Governor's Association Center for Best Practices, July 15, 1997.
• CBO Estimates of Savings from Banning Medicaid and TANF Services to Current and Future Immigrants (October 1993 estimates).
• Immigrant Policy News ... State LegisLine, Immigrant Policy Project at NCSL

National Immigration Law Center
1815 H Street, N.W.
Suite 501
Washington, D.C. 20006
tel: 202-776-0470
fax: 202-776-0474

Center for Best Practices
National Governors' Association
400 North Capitol Street, NW
Suite 267
Washington, D.C. 20001
tel: 202-624-5300
fax: 202-624-5313

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 404E
Washington, D.C. 20001
tel: 202-690-7858