Hirono, Jayapal, Cárdenas Reintroduce Bicameral Legislation to Restore Access to Public Benefits to Immigrants

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) introduced bicameral legislation to remove harmful barriers to federal public benefits for immigrants. The Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration (LIFT the BAR) Act eliminates the current five-year waiting period for access to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This will restore access to critical aid for Green Card holders, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, individuals granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), and other lawfully present immigrants.

“Immigrants play integral roles in our communities and should not have to endure an arbitrary waiting period just to access essential benefits,” said Senator Hirono. “For more than 25 years, unjust policies have prevented millions of lawfully present immigrants from accessing critical services and programs, including quality health care, food and housing assistance, economic support, and more. As we work to support immigrant communities in Hawaii and across the country, the LIFT the BAR Act will eliminate harmful barriers and allow immigrants and their families to lead healthier, safer, and more secure lives.”

In 1996, Congress passed restrictive legislation that created an arbitrary five-year waiting period for immigrants with lawful status to access critical benefits and services. Due in part to these restrictions, immigrants are significantly more likely to be uninsured, placing them at a higher risk for adverse health and financial consequences.

In 2024, non-elderly immigrants will account for an estimated 8 percent of the population yet make up 31 percent of the non-elderly uninsured population. 

Specifically, the LIFT the BAR Act would:

• Reinstate access to federal public benefits for lawfully present immigrants, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, individuals granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), and other federally authorized non-citizens residing in the United States;
• Remove the five-year bar for Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, TANF, and SSI; and
• Enable immigrants with sponsors to access services based on the income and resources that are actually available to them, remove state authority to impose additional restrictions on qualified immigrants, and restore flexibility for states and localities to provide benefits to immigrants with their own funds.

The bill was cosponsored by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Peter Welch (D-VT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM).

The LIFT the BAR Act was also endorsed by nearly 200 organizations.

The full text of the bill is available here.

Senator Hirono is a leading champion in the fight to expand access to federal benefits to lawfully-present immigrants. Earlier this year, she reintroduced the bipartisan Compact Impact Fairness Act, which would restore access to a range of federal benefits for citizens of the Freely Associated States of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau, who reside in the United States. The Compact Impact Fairness Act also builds upon Senator Hirono’s legislation to restore Medicaid eligibility for COFA citizens, which was signed into law in 2020.

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