Tibetan immigrants in S. California will be effected by proposals in Congress to limit benefits to legal immigrants. The Tibetan Cultural and Community Service Center (TCCSC) of Southern California -- an APPCON member, has joined the national effort in the Asian American communities, to protect the benefits Tibetan immigrants.
ACTION ALERT
TALKING POINTS FOR HOUSE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
SHAW'S PROPOSAL TO LIMIT BENEFITS TO LEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Monday, June 9, 1997
Over the next day, it is imperative that you call members of the House Ways
And Means Committee and ask that they vote against a proposal being offered by
Representative Clay Shaw (R-FL), which would significantly limit the
Restoration of SSI benefits to legal immigrants. The Shaw proposal has already been approved by the Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means
Committee, and the full Ways and Means Committee will be voting on the
Proposal either today or tomorrow.
The following are talking points you may use when speaking to your members:
1. We urge you to support, at a minimum, the terms and the spirit of the
budget deal that was agreed to by President Clinton and Congressional
leaders, and to oppose the proposal offered by Representative Clay Shaw.
2. More immigrants would be covered under the budget deal than under the
Shaw proposal, for the following reasons:
* the budget deal will protect all disabled legal immigrants who were in the U.S. as of 8/23/96, including both those who are currently disabled, and those who may become disabled in the future. Under Shaw's proposal, legal immigrants who become disabled in the future would not be eligible for benefits. This would include those who fall ill with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, or cancer who were not receiving SSI as of August 22, 1996, but whose health will continue to deteriorate over time. As legal immigrants become older and more frail, the numbers of unprotected and vulnerable legal immigrants will continue to grow if Shaw's proposal is adopted.
* the budget deal will preserve SSI benefits for many elderly legal immigrants who will be able to requalify as disabled under the Social Security Administration's definition of "disabled".
* We remain very concerned about those elderly legal immigrants who may
not requalify as disabled under the budget deal. However, Congress
should not abandon disabled immigrants in order to provide assistance to the elderly. Instead, Congress should identify additional resources to preserve SSI eligibility for all vulnerable legal immigrants, including both the disabled and the small percentage of elderly who may not immediately requalify as disabled.
If you have any questions, please contact Jayne Park at the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, at (202)296-2300.
