Can community development programs benefit immigrant populations? Part 1

Community and Economic Development – Blog by UNC School of Government

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Can community development programs benefit immigrant populations? Part 1

By CED Guest Author

Published November 2, 2010

Sejal Zota is the School of Government Immigration Law Specialist.

Can community development organizations provide down payment assistance to immigrant populations? Can they provide housing rehabilitation assistance? Can they extend water and sewer services? In recent weeks, we have been asked whether immigrant populations may legally participate in such community development programs. In short, the answer is that it depends on both the class of immigrants receiving the assistance and the specific type of assistance being provided. The main restriction is the federal welfare law, which limits immigrant access to certain programs funded by federal, state, and local dollars. Does the welfare law cover community development programs? That is really the sixty-four thousand dollar question, and it requires a multipart answer. In this post, I will provide some necessary background on the federal welfare law and identify key questions. In later posts, I will discuss the answers to those questions.

What is the federal welfare law?

In 1996, Congress passed the federal welfare law, which addresses immigrant eligibility for federal, state and local public benefits. In broad strokes, the law defines what constitutes a “federal, state or local public benefit” and sets out which classes of immigrants are eligible for these benefits. It also exempts many programs from the definition, so that those programs can be provided to all persons, regardless of immigration status. The law requires service providers, including state and local government officials, to verify immigration status for programs considered to be a federal public benefit. The law, however, exempts charitable nonprofit organizations from its verification requirements. Therefore, community development organizations that are also charitable nonprofits are not required to verify immigration status for any benefits funded through federal, state, or local government sources.

Which classes of immigrants are eligible for public benefits?

Noncitizens are eligible for “federal public benefits,” but generally only if they are “qualified” immigrants (a category created by the welfare law). “Qualified” immigrants include lawful permanent residents (green card holders), refugees and asylees, and some other groups listed here. All other groups of noncitizens are nonqualified and generally barred from receiving “federal public benefits” (with some exceptions that will be discussed in a later post). Nonqualified immigrants include persons who entered the United States without authorization or who overstayed their authorized period of stay. These individuals are frequently referred to as “undocumented,” “illegal,” or “unauthorized.” Nonqualified immigrants also include some persons with pending immigration applications and temporary residents such as foreign tourists.

In the next posts, I’ll look at the following questions:

1)      Are community development programs considered federal, state, or local public benefits and therefore restricted? If yes, which ones?

2)      For programs that are restricted, how should providers verify immigration status?

3)      For programs that are not restricted, can local governments or nonprofit agencies add their own verification requirements?

4)      How is this law enforced? Are there penalties for providing restricted assistance to unauthorized immigrants?

Stay tuned!