Restore dignity to elderly and disabled refugees

A 101-year-old Floridian, who made it out of Cuba and lives with her daughter and son-in-law, themselves both retired seniors struggling to make ends meet. At 101, she is unable to even understand the citizenship oath.  Her daughter is petitioning a court to appoint her as legal guardian so that she can apply for citizenship and take the oath on her mother’s behalf.

A 77-year-old year Virginian, who fled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, arriving in the U.S. in 2000. His application for permanent residency was misplaced by the government for more than two years, and he now must wait until 2012 before he is eligible to apply for citizenship.

The cases continue to roll in. On three occasions Congress has voted to extend the lifeline of assistance to refugees like these. The last extension passed both chambers of Congress in 2008 with unanimous bipartisan support. The emergency measure under Senate consideration preserves the structure of the 2008 legislation but extends assistance, for one additional fiscal year, to refugees unable to naturalize. The $22 million dollar measure would be fully offset by money recouped to the Treasury from increased collection of unemployment insurance fraud. The net cost to the American public would be zero.

Congress let the most vulnerable members of our society fall off an economic cliff when it failed to extend assistance to refugees who are disabled or elderly. A more permanent solution is clearly called for but in the meantime immediate action is needed to address the crisis at hand.  As soon as it returns from recess, Congress must quickly to enact an emergency measure for Fiscal Year 2011 to restore vital Supplemental Security Income assistance to those who’ve already lost it, and to protect thousands of additional refugees from falling into the same economic abyss.

Hincapié is Executive Director of the National Immigration Law Center