Cuts to Public Assistance for Legal Immigrants

Who will Be Impacted?

It is important to know that legal immigrants who qualify for federally-funded public assistance will not be impacted by the FY 2012-2013 state budget. Legal immigrants who qualify for the federal programs will continue to qualify and will not lose benefits. The following groups of legal immigrants should not be impacted by the policy changes in the State budget:

1. Refugees;
2. Asylees;
3. Amerasian immigrants;
4. Cuban/Haitian entrants;
5. People granted withholding of deportation;
6. Victims of trafficking;
7. Derivative beneficiaries of trafficking victims;
8. Veterans;
9. Lawful Permanent Residents, parolees, or battered aliens who are also armed services members or veterans;
10. Spouses, surviving spouses, or children of veterans or active duty military personnel;
11. Special immigrants from Iraq or Afghanistan;
    
    Depending on the U.S. entry date, the following groups may also NOT be impacted by the cuts:
    
    
12. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have had LPR status for at least 5 years;
13. Abused spouses, children, the parents of battered children and the children of battered spouses;
14. Conditional entrants;
15. Parolees granted for at least 1 year (or indefinitely);
16. Those who entered the United States before August 22, 1996, if they: (a) obtained a qualified status before that date; or (b) obtained a qualified status after August 22, 1996 but were continuously present in the United States from August 22, 1996 until becoming qualified.

The budget cuts in TANF, the Food Supplement Program and MaineCare will impact legal immigrants who only qualify for state-funded public assistance based on their immigration status. The following groups of legal immigrants may be impacted by the policy changes in the budget:

1. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have had LPR status for less than 5 years;
2. People who have filed applications for permanent status and are still awaiting a decision (for example, those who have filed an application for lawful permanent residency as the immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, or an application for asylum that is currently pending);
3. People granted deferred action or Family Unity status;
4. Non-citizens who have resided in the United States since before January 1, 1972;
5. People whom the Department of Homeland Security, including the Citizenship and Immigration Services or the Immigration and Customs Enforcement departments, or any successor agencies knows are here without status but nevertheless are allowed to remain for humanitarian or other reasons;
6. People who are under "orders of supervision" because they have removal orders but their countries are not taking them back; and
7. People in various other immigration statuses that were considered as PRUCOL, including those with certain applications pending with Federal immigration authorities.
   

PLEASE NOTE: Regardless of immigration status, the following legal immigrants will not be impacted by the budget cuts:

1. Children (those under age 18) should not lose Food Supplement benefits and will continue to qualify for these benefits.
2. Pregnant women and children (those under age 21) should not lose MaineCare coverage and will continue to qualify for MaineCare coverage.

If you have any questions, please contact Robyn Merrill by e-mail: rmerrill AT mejp DOT org - or by phone: (866)626-7059, ext. 207.

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Read more about impact of state budget cuts