Washington,
D.C. – After years of intensive advocacy work bringing together
grass-roots, local, regional and national organizations, HIAS, the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, is cheering a major legislative victory
following yesterday’s passage in the House of a bill extending
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for disabled and elderly
refugees.
“This is the most encouraging sign we’ve seen in recent
years that Washington understands the plight of these vulnerable
refugees, who are in particularly dire situations,” says Gideon
Aronoff, president and CEO of HIAS.  “With a significant portion of
those affected being elderly refugees from the former Soviet Union
(FSU), the Jewish community around the country has been deeply involved
in efforts to solve this pressing humanitarian problem.”
If passed in the Senate, the legislation would extend SSI eligibility
for two years for refugees, asylees, and other qualified immigrants,
including those whose benefits recently expired. Benefits could also be
extended an additional year for refugees waiting for a decision on
their pending citizenship applications.   The House bill also comes at
no cost to American taxpayers, as it includes a provision to pay for
the extension by allowing the government to deduct from taxpayers’
refund checks debts they might owe for fraudulently obtained
unemployment benefits.
HIAS, which has worked on behalf of the Jewish community on citizenship
and naturalization issues since it opened its doors in 1881, has been
aggressively advocating for solutions to the SSI issue since 2003, when
the severity of the problem came to light, particularly after changes
in U.S. policies since September 11, 2001.  Earlier this month, HIAS
organized and sent to Congress a letter signed by nearly 400
organizations nationwide, urging passage of an SSI bill.  Among the
signers of the letter are several other prominent Jewish organizations,
including the United Jewish Communities; Jewish Council for Public
Affairs; American Jewish Committee; Association of Jewish Family &
Children’s Agencies; Women of Reform Judaism; The Workmen’s
Circle/Arbeter Ring; and Women of Reform Judaism.

Jews from the FSU are more affected by limits on SSI benefits than
other refugee groups.  The large wave of Russian Jewish emigration to
the U.S. in the 1990s was demographically the oldest in U.S. history. 
This wave of Russian Jewish emigration coincided with the 1996 adoption
in a welfare reform law that conditioned the receipt of SSI benefits
for the disabled, blind and elderly on achieving citizenship within the
first seven years of entry into the country.
“The number of people
who are losing their life-sustaining SSI benefits, in large part due to
delays in the immigration system beyond their control, is climbing,”
the HIAS letter stated.  “The Social Security Administration currently
projects that 50,000 elderly and disabled refugees will face extreme
hardship and destitution by 2012 due to the suspension of their SSI
benefits. These individuals fled persecution or torture in countries
such as Iran, Russia, Iraq, Vietnam and Somalia, and now are too
elderly or disabled to support themselves.”
“Refugees fleeing persecution, injustice and even threat of death
sometimes arrive in America with only the clothes on their back, and
this program has provided a few hundred dollars a month for bare
essentials. In recent years, this modest safety net has been taken away
from approximately 7,000 elderly and disabled refuges through no fault
of their own,” said one of the bill’s sponsors Jim McDermott, (D-Wash.)
in a statement. 

In his own statement, Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), who also sponsored the
bill, said, “These are individuals legally allowed into the United
States for humanitarian reasons after fleeing persecution and suffering
in their own countries. Recognizing the likelihood of ongoing issues in
the naturalization process, this legislation provides up to one extra
year of eligibility – for a total of up to ten years – for those
refugees and asylees needing more time to complete the naturalization
process.”  HIAS worked closely with the offices of McDermott and Weller
and continues to work toward Senate passage of the legislation with
Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Herbert Kohl (D-Wisc.), sponsors of the
Senate’s companion bill.