Washington, D.C.
– Faced with the crisis that thousands of elderly and disabled refugees
have lost and will continue to lose their only means of subsistence,
HIAS – the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society – has led hundreds of
organizations in calling on Congress to take action.

The letter was signed by 75 national organizations, including
Catholic Charities USA, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and National
Council on Aging, and 215 local and regional organizations from 38
states. In it, they urge legislators to pass a bill allowing vulnerable
individuals to receive a life-sustaining benefit for an additional two
years while they continue the naturalization process.

Under the 1996 welfare reform legislation, refugees, asylees
and other humanitarian migrants were allowed seven years to become
citizens, or lose their Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
SSI provides a modest stipend to help keep elderly, disabled, and blind
individuals, who are unable to support themselves, from falling too
deeply into poverty. Yet since 2003, delays in the immigration system
beyond their control and difficulty learning English has resulted in
elderly and disabled refugees losing this essential life-sustaining
benefit. Nearly 6,000 elderly and disabled refugees have already lost
their SSI benefits, and that number is quickly climbing.

“If we as a community and as a nation do not act now, we’re
looking at about 40,000 refugees who will lose SSI by 2016, and at
least 8,000 of them are from the former Soviet Union,” says Gideon
Aronoff, president and CEO of HIAS. “These are people who fled
persecution or torture in countries such as Iran, Russia, Iraq, Vietnam
and Somalia, and now are too elderly or disabled to support
themselves.”

The bill in question – SSI Extension for Elderly and Disabled
Refugees – was introduced last year by Senators Gordon Smith (R-Ore.)
and Herbert Kohl (D-Wisc.) in the Senate and Representatives Benjamin
Cardin (D-Md.) and Philip English (R-Penn,) in the House. The bill
would give this vulnerable population an additional two years to go
through the citizenship process while maintaining their SSI benefits.

“The scope of groups signing onto this statement urging passage
of the SSI bill – religious organizations, social service providers,
disability support groups, human rights organizations, and many others
– shows the depth of support within the country for protecting the most
at risk,” says Aronoff.

“We are hopeful that Congress will pass this bill before the
end of the year and that by doing so, prevent the unnecessary hardship
that this already victimized population stands to suffer,” says
Aronoff.