For almost 30 years, a key part of America’s 1996 welfare reform laws has existed mostly on paper after the Clinton DOJ effectively nullified it with a loophole. Now, the Trump DOJ says it’s time to enforce those laws as Congress originally wrote them.
Earlier this week, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel quietly reversed a Clinton-era legal opinion that had sharply limited when immigrants could be denied federal welfare benefits. The earlier interpretation narrowed the law so much, critics say, that it allowed many immigrants – including some who were not lawfully eligible – to continue receiving benefits Congress intended to restrict.
The new DOJ opinion restores a broader reading of the law, potentially expanding waiting periods for benefits, strengthening sponsor repayment requirements, and closing loopholes that have existed since the late 1990s.
What Congress Intended in 1996
In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) along with major immigration reforms. The message was straightforward: immigrants should be self-sufficient, public benefits should not encourage immigration, and American taxpayers should not be responsible for supporting new arrivals.
To enforce those goals, Congress created several rules:
- Most lawful permanent residents were barred from receiving “means-tested” federal benefits during their first five years in the U.S.
- Family members who sponsored immigrants had to sign legally binding affidavits promising to support them.
- If a sponsored immigrant received certain benefits, the government could seek reimbursement from the sponsor.
- When agencies evaluated eligibility for benefits, they were required to count the sponsor’s income as part of the immigrant’s resources.
Congress defined “federal public benefit” broadly but never formally defined the term “federal means-tested public benefit.” That gap would become critical.
Hellbound and Down 