By DINAH WILEY
Public Benefits Policy Attorney

     Refugees, asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, victims of trafficking, and other humanitarian immigrants whose Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits were available only during a seven-year period may be able to receive SSI for at least two additional years.  Under a law that became effective on October 1, 2008, humanitarian immigrants whose SSI was terminated or denied due to the expiration of this time period should apply for the extension immediately by visiting their local Social Security Administration (SSA) office or by calling 1-800-772-1213. 

     The law granting the extension, enacted September 30, 2008, is known as “The SSI Extension for Elderly and Disabled Refugees Act,” Public Law 110-328 (H.R. 2608).  It amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA, the “welfare law”).  To receive the extension, humanitarian immigrants must meet certain other criteria and must also declare that they have made a good faith effort to pursue U.S. citizenship.  If they have a naturalization application pending at the end of the two-year extension, they may be able to receive a third year of benefits.  The law granting the  extensions of SSI eligibility is temporary; it expires on September 30, 2011. 

     A multi-organization team of advocates has written a detailed frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) document about the SSI extension’s provisions (also available in Spanish).  NILC will also provide additional updates (on our Immigrants & Public Benefits > Supplemental Security Income (SSI) webpage) as SSA refines instructions for agency workers. 

Background

     SSI provides a lifeline of minimal income support for very-low-income seniors and persons with disabilities.  Although humanitarian immigrants are among the few categories of immigrants eligible to receive SSI under the restrictive 1996 welfare law, their eligibility ends after a limited time period.  Congress rationalized the time limits as providing an incentive for humanitarian immigrants to naturalize quickly; U.S. citizens are free from these arbitrary time limits.  However, citizenship is elusive for immigrants who are caught in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) processing delays on applications for lawful permanent residence (LPR or “green-card” status, a prerequisite for applying for citizenship) or naturalization (citizenship).  The new law recognizes that humanitarian immigrants face destitution while waiting for these applications to be processed.  

     Advocates worked long and hard for passage of this extension of benefits.  About 30,000 refugee seniors and persons with disabilities have lost this income support, and another 19,000 refugees and humanitarian migrants are projected to lose their benefits in the future.  These individuals fled persecution or torture in countries such as Iran, Russia, Iraq, Vietnam and Somalia, and now are unable to support themselves due to their age or disability

The Law and SSA Implementing Instructions  

     Humanitarian immigrants include refugees, asylees, persons granted withholding of deportation or removal, Cuban and Haitian entrants, Amerasian immigrants, and victims of trafficking in persons.  Most current or former SSI recipients who were granted any of these statuses should be eligible for the extension.  SSA has issued an internal policy explaining how its workers should administer the law, Emergency Message 08105 SEN, contained in POMS SI 00502.107.  However, neither the emergency message (EM) nor the POMS section is available on the SSA’s public website.  NILC obtained a copy and incorporated information from the instructions into this article.  SSA plans to issue additional instructions in the months ahead.  NILC will provide updates as those instructions are issued.

     Given that the law became effective one day after its enactment, SSA did not have sufficient time to reprogram its computers, which automatically issue cut-off notices and stop payments.  Therefore, recipients who reached the end of their seven-year period in October or November of 2008 were automatically and erroneously cut off.  SSA will reinstate these recipients, although their benefits will be interrupted.  Persons who need immediate reinstatement should contact SSA; in addition, if their Medicaid benefits are also mistakenly interrupted, they should contact their state agency that administers Medicaid.

      The law includes conditions that are intended to exclude some humanitarian immigrants from the extension based on whether they are not taking adequate steps toward citizenship.  Immigrants subject to the SSI time limit will benefit from the extension only if they meet one of the following conditions:

1. They are under 18 years old, or 70 years of age or older; OR

2. They have been a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for less than six years; OR

3. They applied for LPR status within four years after they began receiving SSI; OR

4. They are a Cuban or Haitian entrant; OR

5. They have been granted withholding of deportation or removal; OR

6. They have a naturalization petition pending or are awaiting their swearing-in ceremony.

     Under the structure of the new law, three major categories of humanitarian immigrants are covered :  those who have not yet lost their SSI; those who lost their SSI in the past; and those who have never applied for SSI. 

     For those who have not yet lost their SSI, SSA will automatically extend benefits, but the agency may ask these recipients to sign a statement that they have made a good faith effort to pursue U.S. citizenship.  Immigrants who reach the nine-year anniversary of the date they attained refugee or other humanitarian immigrant status can continue to receive SSI until October 2011, but only if they have a pending application for naturalization.

     For those who have already lost their SSI , SSA will redetermine eligibility by asking for proof of income and assets, and will determine whether the immigrant meets one of the above eligibility categories.  The extension is available as of October 1, 2008 (and going forward two years), regardless of when the person reapplies.  For example, an immigrant who lost SSI in 2006 due to the expiration of the seven-year period, and who applies for the extension in January of 2009 and can prove eligibility back to October of 2008, will receive benefits retroactively to October 1 and going forward from that date for two years.  If, in October 2010, the immigrant has a pending application for naturalization, he or she may receive benefits until the law expires in October 2011.   (Benefits would continue indefinitely if the immigrant becomes a citizen).

     Humanitarian immigrants who have never applied for SSI are subject to a different set of rules under the new law.  Immigrants who received their status as a refugee, asylee, person granted withholding of removal, Cuban or Haitian entrant, Amerasian, or victim of trafficking before October 1999 will not qualify for the extension.  Those who attained humanitarian status after October 1999 may receive SSI until the nine-year anniversary of the date they obtained the relevant status.  Benefits will continue beyond that date until October 2011 only if the immigrant has a pending naturalization application or is awaiting the swearing-in ceremony.  (Please see the FAQ for more information.)  

More Work to Do

     Through two years of negotiation in the 110th Congress, the SSI extension bill was modified significantly before President Bush finally signed it into law on Sept. 30, 2008.  The new law contains provisions inserted by members of the Senate Republican Steering Committee who wished to exclude from the extension any immigrant who was not taking steps to become a citizen.  Advocates and the bill’s champion in Congress, former Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), attempted to secure the extension for all immigrants whose SSI eligibility is time-limited.  But the insertion by Steering Committee members of additional restrictions will exclude some humanitarian immigrants from the extension, such as those who applied for LPR status more than four years after they began receiving SSI. 

     The law requires SSA to consult with DHS regarding procedures for verifying extension applicants’ immigration status and pending applications for LPR or naturalization.  These procedures have yet to be determined, and advocates will work with both agencies to promote the most inclusive implementation.  Of the final law, Sen. Smith said, “[I]t is our intent that whatever procedure SSA and DHS establish, it does not impose an undue burden or barrier on the benefactors of this Act.”   Cong Rec. of Aug. 1, 2008, S8004, col. 1.

     While the new law will help many very vulnerable immigrants, advocates will continue to seek legislation that repeals the PRWORA-imposed time limits altogether.  Naturalization is unattainable for persons who cannot pass the citizenship test because of their age, disability or other factors.  The United States has invited refugees to come and has offered safe haven to other humanitarian immigrants.  Our laws do not force indigent seniors or persons with disabilities who are citizens into destitution at the end of an arbitrary time period.  Similarly, we should not cut support from refugees who, because of factors beyond their control, have not been able to become citizens, despite their long presence in the U.S. 

     For more information, contact Dinah Wiley.