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    "ocrText": "The White House\nUPON\namount\nDOMESTIC POLICY\nFACSIMILE TRANSMISSION COVER SHEET\nTO:\nIrene Bueno\nJohnMonahan\nMelissaSkolfield\nFAX NUMBER: 690-6351\n690-5672\n690-5673\nTELEPHONE NUMBER: 260-7199\n690-8090\n690-7850\nFROM:\nCynthes Run\nTELEPHONE NUMBER:\n456-2846\nPAGES (INCLUDING COVER): 5\nCOMMENTS:\nQ+A we gawe McCurry\nre: Florida lawsuit +\nTo FL press release\nQ&A re: Florida Lawsuit\n4/23/97\nQuestion:\nThe state of Florida has sued the federal government to overturn the part of the\nwelfare law that eliminates benefits for most legal immigrants. Governor Chiles says\nthe welfare law will leave state and local governments in Florida holding the bag for\nbillions of lost benefits. What is the White House's position on this?\nAnswer:\nThe President believes legal immigrants who work hard, pay taxes and contribute to\nAmerican society and fall on hard times through no fault of their own should get\nmedical and other vital assistance when they need it. That's why his budget provides\n$14.6 billion in assistance for those legal immigrants who, through no fault of their\nown, are unable to work: children and individuals who are disabled.\nAs you indicated, the state of Florida filed a lawsuit today. The lawyers at the\nDepartment of Justice have just begun to look at it, and I do not have an indication\nfrom the Department about their plans. Generally, however, the role of the\nDepartment of Justice is to defend the constitutionality of federal laws when they are\nchallenged in suits like this one.\nTHE\nSTATE\nREAL\nOF\nSTATE OF FLORIDA\nGREAT\nPLORIDA\nOffice of the Covernor\nE\nGOD\nTRUST\nTHE CAPITOL\n$\nTALLAHASSEE. FLORIDA 32399-0001\nLAWTON CHILES\nGOVERNOR\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\nCONTACT: April Herrle or\nApril 23, 1997\nKaren Pankowski\n(904) 488-5394\nGOVERNOR CHILES SUES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVER\nWELFARE REFORM RESTRICTIONS ON LEGAL NON CITIZENS\nTALLAHASSEE -- On behalf of the State of Florida, Governor Lawton Chiles\ntoday filed suit against the United States Government seeking relief from changes in\nfederal welfare laws that restrict essential federal benefits for many legal non citizens in\nFlorida. Under the 1996 welfare reform law, an estimated 100,000 legal immigrants in\nFlorida -- many of whom are elderly or disabled -- will lose one or more federal benefits\nthat help pay for food and other basic living expenses.\n\"The looming crisis that we are facing is not the result of true welfare reform.\nRather, it stems from a veiled attempt by Congress to balance the federal budget on the\nbacks of Florida taxpayers,\" Governor Chiles said. \"These cuts are cruel and will go\ndirectly to the heart of our state's communities. Congress must act to correct this basic\nunfairness and until it does, this suit will keep the focus where is should be -- at the\nfederal level.\"\nFLORIDA'S CASE\nFlorida's suit against the U.S. Government, Health and Human Services Secretary\nDonna Shalala, Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner John Callahan and\nAgriculture Secretary Dan Glickman is being filed today in federal court in Miami.\nFlorida's suit alleges that the 1996 Welfare Reform Act:\nviolates the due process clause of the 5th Amendment of the United States\nConstitution by denying equal protection to legal non citizens with disabilities by\nterminating Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and food stamp benefits;\nviolates an agreement with the Social Security Administration to reimburse Dade\nCounty for interim assistance paid to legal non citizens;\nviolates Article IV and the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution by\nforcing Florida to assume the costs of caring for the individuals losing benefits; and\n(more)\nFLORIDA SUES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT -- Page Two\nviolates basic constitutional principles by discriminating against legal non-citizens.\nThe declared purpose, to encourage self-sufficiency and discourage illegal\nimmigration, is irrational since many affected non citizens were already residing in\nthe United States when welfare reform was enacted.\nPLAINTIFFS TO LAWSUIT\nAlong with Governor Chiles, the other governmental plaintiffs in the case are:\nAttorney General Bob Butterworth; Florida Department of Children & Family Services\nSecretary Ed Feaver; Florida Agency for Health Care Administration Director Doug\nCook and Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas. In addition to local and state agencies suing\nthe federal government, two people representing the class of individual plaintiffs also\njoined Governor Chiles:\nRafael Caramanzana -- A 32-year-old who was born with severe brain damage and\ncerebral palsy and immigrated to the U.S. in 1983 with his parents and is a lawful\npermanent resident. Caramanzana has quadriplegia and does not have any motor\nskills. His mother cares for him and his father works in a factory and has a pre-tax\nincome of $220 a week. The father's income and Caramanzana's SSI benefits provide\nthe household's only income. The family has applied for citizenship for\nCaramanzana, but he has been rejected due to mental impairments.\nEduardo Marsans -- A 21-year-old who has been a lawful permanent resident of the\nU.S. since 1993. Marsans suffers from cerebral palsy and quadriplegia and receives\nSSI and related food stamps. This assistance helps Marsans' family pay rent and buy\nfood. Because he has not lived in the U.S. for five years, Marsans is not eligible for\nnaturalization until May, 1998. His benefits will be terminated unless he submits\nproof of his continued eligibility for SSI by May 12, 1997.\nLEGAL REMEDIES\nIn the suit, Florida is asking the Court to: declare that denying SSI and food stamp\nbenefits to otherwise eligible lawful permanent resident aliens is unconstitutional and\nvoid; restore SSI and food stamp benefits to legal non citizens; declare that the Social\nSecurity Administration's rule is void because it is arbitrary and capricious, it\nwas unlawfully promulgated and retroactively breached the agreement to reimburse\nentities for interim assistance.\n(more)\nFLORIDA SUES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT -- Page Three\nBecause of the 1996 changes in federal welfare law, Florida's state and local\ngovernments may have to fill the vacuum left by the elimination of federal assistance to\nsome legal immigrants -- placing the burden on Florida's state and local taxpayers to\npick up the yearly tab to serve needy legal immigrants who lose federal benefits. These\nchanges could place a significant burden on the delivery of social services in Florida and\nare likely to impact services for elders, place a strain on public hospitals, increase health\ncare costs and put more people on the streets.\nFLORIDA'S EFFORTS TO DATE\nToday's action follows a series of steps taken by Governor Chiles and Lt.\nGovernor Buddy MacKay to protect Florida's taxpayers and ensure that critical federal\nbenefits remain available to legal non citizens who have lived in Florida since welfare\nreform legislation was enacted.\nExtended Medicaid and Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) coverage for all\n\"qualified aliens\" residing in Florida as of August 22, 1996.\nExtended food stamp eligibility until August, 1997 -- the maximum period allowed\nby the federal government.\nNaturalization assistance: developed self-help information packet to distribute to all\nelderly and disabled non citizens likely to loose federal benefits.\n###\nPAGE\n1\nLEVEL 1 - 1 OF 4 STORIES\nCopyright 1997 States News Service\nStates News Briefs\nApril 23, 1997 Wednesday 04:10 a.m. Eastern Time\nLENGTH: 3052 words\nHEADLINE: FLORIDA\nBODY:\nState Sues Over Immigrant Benefits\n(TALLAHASSEE) -- Governor Lawton Chiles will announce plans today to sue the\nfederal government over welfare reform. The governor wants to overturn a portion\nof the landmark bill that eliminates benefits for legal immigrants. That\nprovision will affect more than 100-thousand residents of Florida many of\nthem aging and disabled who depend on government for everything from food stamps\nto nursing home care. Chiles says state and local governments in Florida will be\nleft holding the bag for BILLIONS in lost benefits and they can't afford it. The\nstate attorney general and the mayor of Dade County will join the governor as he\nunveils the lawsuit during a news conference on the steps of the state capitol\nthis morning.\nSenator Accused of Battering Wife\n(TALLAHASSEE) -- State Senator John McKay will be back at work in the state\nlegislature today despite being charged with domestic battery. His estranged\nwife, Debbie Dye, told a Manatee County deputy they were having an argument when\nthe Bradenton lawmaker grabbed her by the hair and throat forced her to the\nground.. and threatened to hurt her. McKay told the deputy he never touched the\nwoman... and claims she's trying to ruin him because they' re in midst of a\nbitter divorce. It's not the first time he's had woman trouble. McKay had to\ngive up his chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee after it came\nout in divorce court that he'd been sleeping with a lobbyist.\nMore Damning Documents In Trial\n(JACKSONVILLE) -- Tobacco executives insist they do not market their product\nto kids. But an internal document from R-J Reynolds shows the cigarette maker\nwas concerned in 1980 about losing its share of the teen-age market. It's the\nlatest addition to the paper trail that could lead to a rare courtroom loss for\nthe tobacco giant. Reynolds is being sued by the family of a Jean Conner. a\nJacksonville woman who died of lung cancer after more than 30 years of smoking.\nThis jury is the first to see internal documents from the tobacco industry that\nwere concealed for decades. Attorney's for the Conner family hope to wrap up\ntheir case today.\nLawmakers Back In Action\n(TALLAHASSEE) -- After a two-day break for Passover, the state legislature is\ngoing back to work and time is running out on the 1997 legislative session.\nHouse Speaker Dan Webster says the big concern now is to settle the differences\nover education funding and wrap up the budget. He admits they have NOT\nPAGE 12\nLEVEL 1 - 3 OF 4 STORIES\nCopyright 1997 Sentinel Communications Co.\nTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL\nApril 23, 1997 Wednesday, METRO\nSECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A5\nLENGTH: 250 words\nHEADLINE: FLORIDA WILL TRY TO SAVE WELFARE WITH SUIT\nBYLINE: By Diane Hirth, Tallahassee Bureau\nDATELINE: TALLAHASSEE\nBODY:\nFlorida this week will use legal and legislative punches to try to prevent\ncutoff of federal welfare benefits to 100,000 legal immigrants.\nGov. Lawton Chiles, Lt. Gov. Buddy Mackay and Attorney General Bob\nButterworth will announce today a state lawsuit against the federal government\ndeclaring the cutoff unjust to legal immigrants needing aid and to state\ntaxpayers likely to end up paying for services to this group.\nOn Thursday, U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Miami, will offer an amendment in the\nHouse Appropriations Committee to postpone the federal cutoff for two years.\nSaid Meek, \"The new welfare reform law was supposed to 'move people from\nwelfare to work,' but ending life-sustaining payments to legal immigrants who\nare aged, blind or disabled has nothing to do with that goal.\"\nThe 1996 federal reform of welfare, passed by Congress and signed by\nPresident Clinton last August, decreed legal immigrants would no longer qualify\nfor food stamps or the subsidy known as SSI (Supplemental Security Income). It\nwas the big money-saving portion of the massive national welfare reform.\nThat legislation set a deadline now just four months away - Aug. 22 - for\nactual cutoff of welfare benefits to legal immigrants. The only alternative\nwould be to acquire citizenship. for which some of the immigrants don't qualify.\nFrail elderly are expected to be hurt the most.\nAbout 54,000 legal immigrants in Florida depend on SSI for their basic\nincome: 38,880 of them are age 65 or older.\nLANGUAGE: ENGLISH\nLOAD-DATE: April 23, 1997\nPAGE 15\nSt. Petersburg Times, April 23, 1997\nimpact of immigration - hardly being overrun.\nThe population is becoming more foreign, and the percentage of foreign-born\nAmericans has roughly doubled since 1970. But it's still lower than at the turn\nof the century - about 9 percent compared to nearly 15 percent. Chiles to sue\ngovernment\nTALLAHASSEE - Gov. Lawton Chiles plans to sue the federal government to\npreserve welfare benefits for more than 100,000 legal immigrants in Florida.\nChiles plans a news conference today to announce the lawsuit, claiming many\nelderly and disabled immigrants will lose benefits that help them pay for food\nand other basics.\nAn estimated 420,000 illegal immigrants - about 10 percent of the country's\nillegal immigrant population - live in Florida. - Information from the\nAssociated Press was used in this report.\nLANGUAGE: ENGLISH\nLOAD-DATE: April 23, 1997\nPAGE 13\nLEVEL 1 - 4 OF 4 STORIES\nTimes Publishing Company\nSt. Petersburg Times\nApril 23, 1997, Wednesday\nSECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 5A\nLENGTH: 881 words\nHEADLINE: As legal immigration rises, so does debate on the issue\nBYLINE: ELLEN DEBENPORT\nBODY:\nWASHINGTON\nWhile Congress was squabbling last year about whether to bar more\nimmigrants from entering the United States, the number of legal immigrants\njumped 27 percent to nearly 1-million people.\nThese were people that the country welcomed as permanent residents to take\njobs or join their families here 915,900 immigrants to be exact.\nThis represents a predictable spike in the level of immigration, experts say,\nand the numbers should decline in the next few years.\nAmong the U.S. population of 270-million, last year's immigrants counted as\n0.3 percent.\nYet the annual figures released Tuesday by the Immigration and Naturalization\nService renewed the debate in Washington about whether - and how much -\nimmigration is good for the country.\nThere are three schools of thought:\nStop all immigration for several years until those already here can\nassimilate.\nLet anybody come who wants to live in America. The vast majority of them will\nwork and pay taxes.\nAllow immigration but control how many people may enter and why they are\ncoming. Aim to admit those who will be productive or who have family here. This\nis by far the majority view.\nCongress decided last year not to limit legal immigration any further, but it\nwas busy on other fronts. The laws it passed now make it easier to deport\nillegal aliens and make it harder for immigrants to claim asylum.\nThe new welfare system removes most benefits from legal immigrants, including\nthe elderly and disabled. Sen. Ted Kennedy and others plan a news conference\ntoday to protest that law, and President Clinton has proposed to change it.\nPAGE\n14\nSt. Petersburg Times, April 23, 1997\nBenefits already are denied to the 4-million illegal immigrants living in\nthis country, unless their children are U.S. citizens who were born here.\nNothing passed by Congress last year changed the quotas for people admitted\nto the country legally, however.\n\"Legal immigration is a highly regulated, tightly controlled system,\" said\nJeanne Butterfield of the American Immigration Lawyers' Association.\nThere are several reasons the immigration level was so high last year,\naccording to INS and other experts.\nAmerica is still experiencing an immigration bulge based on the 1986 amnesty\nprogram, when 2.7-million illegal immigrants were allowed to stay.\nThey have become citizens and are now sponsoring their spouses and children\nas permanent residents. The U.S. does not limit the number of those family\nreunifications, and about 300,000 such visas were issued last year. nearly 50\npercent more than usual.\nAnother 85,000 visas left over from 1995 were added to the family category.\nIn addition, immigrants hired to work in this country - largely in highly\nskilled, high-tech jobs - increased by 38 percent, to 117,499.\n\"It means the golden gate has been inched open slightly wider,\" said Stephen\nMoore of the Cato Institute, which supports unlimited immigration. \"We should be\nproud to be Americans. The lamp is lifted slightly higher than it was in the\npast.\"\nThe influx may be smaller than it seems.\nMany of the family members admitted to join U.S. citizens already were living\nhere, more or less legally. The government decided not to deport the families of\nimmigrants granted amnesty in 1986 and has been letting them live here and work.\nThe one-year jump also was big because the 1995 figures were artificially\nlow. INS was operating with new procedures in 1995 and fell behind, so thousands\nof people who should have been admitted in 1995 were added to 1996.\nThe Federation for American Immigration Reform, which wants a moratorium on\nimmigration, complains that the numbers can only get higher - or the waiting\nlists longer - as more immigrants are allowed to sponsor family members.\n\"Responsible leaders have a greater responsibility to understand the forces\ndriving today's immigration - to assess its true impacts on poverty, wage\nflattening, public costs, congestion, crime and environmental degradation,\" said\nexecutive director Dan Stein in a statement.\nEven in raw numbers. immigration is not at record levels. As a percentage of\nthe population, it is nowhere near the Ellis Island years. In 1910, immigrants\narrived at a pace of 12 for every 1,000 residents. Now it's 3 or 4 per 1,000.\nA popular analogy among pro-immigration people in Washington is this: Imagine\nyourself in a ballroom with 1,000 people, champagne flowing, waiters bringing\naround trays of hors d'oeuvres. Three more people enter the room. That's the"
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