Flowerszzzzz

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Wards of the State
Strengthen the public-charge doctrine to promote self-sufficiency.

By James R. Edwards Jr., an adjunct fellow with the Hudson Institute and
co-author (with James G. Gimpel) of The Congressional Politics of Immigration
Reform. He is also the author of the report, “Public Charge Doctrine: A
Fundamental Principle of American Immigration Policy,� for the Center for
Immigration Studies.
July 6, 2001


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n the waning days of the Clinton administration, the president pushed once more
to undo landmark welfare reform: "Now, it is time to restore benefits to other
legal immigrants who are working hard and playing by the rules, but are in need
of assistance."

This move met with congressional skepticism: "[Then-House Ways and Means]
Chairman [William] Archer believes these folks should be coming to America to
live the American dream, to earn a paycheck, not a welfare check."

Thus ended the latest chapter in one of America's oldest, most venerated
components of immigration policy � the public-charge doctrine � the subject
of a recent Center for Immigration Studies report. And Congress will soon
revisit this policy when it reauthorizes the landmark welfare-reform law this
year.

The public-charge doctrine, dating from colonial days, has served to preserve a
flow of qualified, capable immigrants. It has helped to keep out or expel
unproductive immigrants who drain society's resources, much like a
qualifications or skills test.

A "public charge" is someone who relies on public assistance for his livelihood
and is unable to provide for himself. In the pre-politically correct days,
those likely to become public charges were, like criminals and prostitutes,
classified as "undesirables."

Massachusetts enacted the earliest American public-charge law in 1645. By the
close of the 17th century, many colonies had protected themselves against
public charges through such means as immigrant screening and exclusion of
undesirables, mandatory reporting of ship passengers, and requiring bonds be
paid for potential public charges.

With American independence, the U.S. Constitution gave the federal government a
role in immigration policy as of 1808. States and the federal government
concurrently acted after that, with states continuing to strengthen their
public-charge laws. And states retained jurisdiction over their own public
resources and control over their own populations.

Court battles were later fought over state-imposed "head taxes" levied on
immigrants. These taxes on able-bodied immigrants went toward public-relief
costs. In 1849, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled head taxes in Massachusetts and
New York to be unconstitutional.

In the Immigration Act of 1882, Congress included the first federal
public-charge provision. It excluded any immigrant "unable to take care of
himself or herself without becoming a public charge" from entering the United
States. It also instituted a federal head tax.

In 1891, Congress added provisions making deportable "any alien who becomes a
public charge within one year after his arrival in the United States from
causes existing prior to his landing therein."

Eventually, the deportation period was increased to five years after arrival
and the immigrant bore the burden of proof. The public-charge doctrine has
remained essentially the same for more than a century.

In 1996, Congress enacted landmark welfare- and immigration-reform laws that
together sought to revitalize the public-charge doctrine. The sponsors of
immigrants became responsible for the financial backing they pledged, having to
sign a legally enforceable affidavit of support. And sponsors were then asked
to meet an income threshold, earning at least 125 percent of the federal
poverty level ($21,313 for a family of four in 2000). Sponsor income is now
"deemed" as available to the immigrant, thus making it tougher to qualify for
means-tested federal benefits.

But not everybody has backed strong public-charge laws. The Clinton
administration forced out other provisions to strengthen the public-charge
doctrine in final negotiations at the end of the 1996 session. And the Clinton
administration in 1997 and 1998 strong-armed Congress into making it easier for
certain immigrants to receive welfare benefits.

Further, the Clinton administration's 1999 regulations defined "public charge"
in a way that allows immigrants broad welfare usage. Thus, a "public charge" is
an alien who has become or is likely to become "primarily dependent on the
government for subsistence, as demonstrated by…the receipt of public cash
assistance for income maintenance or… institutionalization for long-term care
at government expense."

Among the programs the Clinton INS allows immigrants to use without fear of
deportation as a public charge are: Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance
Program, nutrition programs including food stamps, housing benefits, childcare
services, energy assistance, educational benefits including Head Start,
job-training programs, and in-kind community-based programs.

While many Americans remain concerned about high immigrant welfare rates,
welfare-state politicians have weakened the public-charge doctrine. This
important part of immigration policy no longer adequately protects the nation
against the importation of immigrants who directly drain � rather than
contribute to � society. We must strengthen the doctrine in welfare-reform
reauthorization in order to promote the deep-seated American value of
self-sufficiency.

L D Jones

Flowerszzzzz wrote:
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I think this will only work if appears in the message header, not the
body