Immigration Watch International (2): Democrat bill gives immigrants instant access to federal benefits, ends 'xenophobic' 5-year wait

Friday, June 16, 2023

Democrat bill gives immigrants instant access to federal benefits, ends 'xenophobic' 5-year wait

Democrats in the House and Senate on Thursday introduced a bill that would give immigrants immediate access to a range of federal benefits instead of making them wait five years.

Congress passed legislation in 1996 requiring most immigrants to wait five years after obtaining their official immigration status before they can access Medicaid, food stamps and other federal programs. That requirement was passed as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which the House and Senate passed by 3-to-1 margins and President Bill Clinton signed into law.

But under the bill from Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Tony Cardenas, D-Calif., and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, that five-year waiting period would no longer apply. Democrats said the "arbitrary" five-year waiting period makes it harder for immigrants to obtain "critical benefits and services."

"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," Jayapal said in a statement about her bill, the LIFT the BAR Act. "Immigrants and families should not have to wait to access these basic services."

"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," added Hirono.

Democrats said that by next year, non-elderly immigrants will be about 8% of the total U.S. population, but will make up nearly a third of the non-elderly uninsured population. Cardenas said immigrant families need immediate access to federal benefits in order to "survive and thrive."

The bill was proposed in the midst of what Republicans say is an immigration crisis, as millions of migrants continue to cross into the U.S. illegally. Many Republicans have said these unchecked migrants are leading not only to a drain on federal resources but are a means of drug trafficking and other problems, and say President Biden’s non-enforcement of U.S. immigration laws is attracting more.

Groups that support the Democrat bill, however, say ending the five-year wait for federal benefits is needed to ensure these migrants succeed in America.

"Removing arbitrary barriers to health, nutritional support, housing assistance and other important public programs would bring us closer to a society in which all of us have the freedom to thrive," said Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center.

"Passing the LIFT the BAR Act is an essential step toward race equity, and a quarter-century is more than long enough to wait for justice," added Adriana Cadena, director of Protecting Immigrant Families. "House Democrats must make this bill a priority in 2023."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrat-bill-immigrants-instant-access-federal-benefits-ends-xenophobic-wait

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My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE-TIED)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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Background

Postings from Brisbane, Australia by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.) -- former member of the Australia-Soviet Friendship Society, former anarcho-capitalist and former member of the British Conservative party.

Why is "La Raza" the one Spanish term that is NEVER translated in the American mass media? Because translating it would make it a lot less respectable. It means "THE RACE" -- The mixed Hispanic "race" of Mexico. Racism is fine South of the Rio Grande only, apparently.

The "line" of this blog is that immigration should be SELECTIVE. That means that:

1). A national government should be in control of it. The U.S. and U.K. governments are not but the Australian government has shown that the government of a prosperous Western country can be. Up until its loss of office in 2007, the conservative Howard government had all but eliminated illegal immigration. The present Leftist government has however restarted the flow of illegals by repealing many of the Howard government regulations.

2). Selectivity should be based on "the content of a man's character, not on the color of his skin", as MLK said. To expand that a little: Immigrants should only be accepted if they as individuals seem likely to make a positive net contribution to the country. Many "refugees" would fail that test: Muslims and Africans particularly. Educational level should usually be a pretty fair proxy for the individual's likely value to the receiving country. There will, of course, be exceptions but it is nonetheless unlikely that a person who has not successfully completed High School will make a net positive contribution to a modern Western society.

3). Immigrants should be neither barred NOR ACCEPTED solely because they are of some particular ethnic origin. Blacks are vastly more likely to be criminal than are whites or Chinese, for instance, but some whites and some Chinese are criminal. It is the criminality that should matter, not the race.

4). The above ideas are not particularly blue-sky. They roughly describe the policies of the country where I live -- Australia. I am critical of Australian policy only insofar as the "refugee" category for admission is concerned. All governments have tended to admit as refugees many undesirables. It seems to me that more should be required of them before refugees are admitted -- for instance a higher level of education or a business background.

5). Perhaps the most amusing assertion in the immigration debate is that high-income countries like the USA and Britain NEED illegal immigrants to do low-paid menial work. "Who will pick our crops?" (etc.) is the cry. How odd it is then that Australians get all the normal services of a modern economy WITHOUT illegal immigrants! Yes: Before the pandemic, you usually COULD buy a lettuce in Australia for a dollar or thereabouts. And Australia IS a major exporter of primary products.

6). I am a libertarian conservative so I reject the "open door" policy favoured by many libertarians and many Leftists. Both those groups tend to have a love of simplistic generalizations that fail to deal with the complexity of the real world. It seems to me that if a person has the right to say whom he/she will have living with him/her in his/her own house, so a nation has the right to admit to living among them only those individuals whom they choose.

I can be reached on jonjayray@hotmail.com -- or leave a comment on any post. Abusive comments will be deleted.

Immigration Watch International (2)

Friday, June 16, 2023

Democrat bill gives immigrants instant access to federal benefits, ends 'xenophobic' 5-year wait

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