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or will deter the other household members from even applying for food stamps. Even
in cases where a sponsor's income would not make such household members ineligible
for food stamps, the reporting and paperwork requirements associated with deeming
make receipt of benefits unlikely. 13
There are two arguments that support not deeming a sponsor's income and
resources to other non-sponsored household members. First, the USDA proposal to
attribute a sponsor's income and resources to citizen children and non-sponsored
immigrants is not required by federal law. Section 421 of PRWORA (8 U.S.C. § 1631)
only requires sponsor deeming in determining the eligibility and amount of benefits of
sponsored aliens:
in determining the eligibility and the amount of benefits of an alien
the
income and resources of the alien shall be deemed to include
[t]he income
and resources of any person who executed an affidavit of support pursuant to
section 213A of the Immigration and Nationality Act
on behalf of such alien
[emphasis added].
No evidence suggests that Congress intended to make citizen children ineligible for
food stamps. Yet this is what the proposed rule would generally do where a citizen
child is a member of a household that also includes an immigrant with a Form I-864
Affidavit of Support. In fact, legislative history supports a much more limited reading of
section 421. For example, the conference report explains that a sponsor's income is to
be taken into account "
in determining the sponsored individual's neediness."
[emphasis added]. The proposed rule would go much farther than the statute requires
by extending deeming to determine the eligibility and benefits of the non-sponsored
household members, rather than just the sponsored individual immigrant. The plain
language of section 421 of PRWORA, reinforced by the supporting legislative history,
clearly leaves USDA with discretion to implement a deeming rule that does not result in
reduced benefits or ineligibility for non-sponsored household members and citizen
children.
USDA may believe that the proposed rule is consistent with previous pre-
PRWORA deeming rules which counted a sponsor's income and resources in
determining the food stamp benefits for the entire household in which a sponsored
immigrant resided. However, under the pre-PRWORA food stamp rules, sponsored
immigrants were always potentially eligible for food stamps. In other words, for these
immigrants, it was always necessary to "determin[e]
[their] eligibility and amount of
benefits." This is a very different situation than that to which the proposed rule would
apply. Almost all of the sponsored immigrants to whom the proposed rule would apply
are ineligible for food stamps, even before any consideration of their income, because
of their immigrant status. Moreover, the impact of deeming on other household
members under the prior deeming rules was more limited because deeming was only
allowed for three years, unlike the unlimited deeming that section 421 of PRWORA
requires.
6
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"ocrText": "PPI Intern1 - feb29fsregs_immig.doc\nPage 6\nor will deter the other household members from even applying for food stamps. Even\nin cases where a sponsor's income would not make such household members ineligible\nfor food stamps, the reporting and paperwork requirements associated with deeming\nmake receipt of benefits unlikely. 13\nThere are two arguments that support not deeming a sponsor's income and\nresources to other non-sponsored household members. First, the USDA proposal to\nattribute a sponsor's income and resources to citizen children and non-sponsored\nimmigrants is not required by federal law. Section 421 of PRWORA (8 U.S.C. § 1631)\nonly requires sponsor deeming in determining the eligibility and amount of benefits of\nsponsored aliens:\nin determining the eligibility and the amount of benefits of an alien\nthe\nincome and resources of the alien shall be deemed to include\n[t]he income\nand resources of any person who executed an affidavit of support pursuant to\nsection 213A of the Immigration and Nationality Act\non behalf of such alien\n[emphasis added].\nNo evidence suggests that Congress intended to make citizen children ineligible for\nfood stamps. Yet this is what the proposed rule would generally do where a citizen\nchild is a member of a household that also includes an immigrant with a Form I-864\nAffidavit of Support. In fact, legislative history supports a much more limited reading of\nsection 421. For example, the conference report explains that a sponsor's income is to\nbe taken into account \"\nin determining the sponsored individual's neediness.\"\n[emphasis added]. The proposed rule would go much farther than the statute requires\nby extending deeming to determine the eligibility and benefits of the non-sponsored\nhousehold members, rather than just the sponsored individual immigrant. The plain\nlanguage of section 421 of PRWORA, reinforced by the supporting legislative history,\nclearly leaves USDA with discretion to implement a deeming rule that does not result in\nreduced benefits or ineligibility for non-sponsored household members and citizen\nchildren.\nUSDA may believe that the proposed rule is consistent with previous pre-\nPRWORA deeming rules which counted a sponsor's income and resources in\ndetermining the food stamp benefits for the entire household in which a sponsored\nimmigrant resided. However, under the pre-PRWORA food stamp rules, sponsored\nimmigrants were always potentially eligible for food stamps. In other words, for these\nimmigrants, it was always necessary to \"determin[e]\n[their] eligibility and amount of\nbenefits.\" This is a very different situation than that to which the proposed rule would\napply. Almost all of the sponsored immigrants to whom the proposed rule would apply\nare ineligible for food stamps, even before any consideration of their income, because\nof their immigrant status. Moreover, the impact of deeming on other household\nmembers under the prior deeming rules was more limited because deeming was only\nallowed for three years, unlike the unlimited deeming that section 421 of PRWORA\nrequires.\n6"
}