California Immigration Lawyer Blog

The General Accounting Office (“GAO”) has recently issued a report, "Actions needed to address vulnerabilities in process for granting permanent residency." It is interesting because while it acknowledges improvement in the adjudication of security background checks, it also strongly criticizes United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (“USCIS”) adjudication of permanent residence applications in a few key areas.

Here is the good news first. USCIS has been working diligently with the FBI in trying to reduce the security check backlog. The report notes that the number of pending name checks has decreased 90 percent, from 329,000 in May 2007 to 32,000 as of September 30, 2008. The FBI plans on being able to complete all name checks within 90 days of receipt by June 2009.

The GAO found though that USCIS has failed to address vulnerabilities that they were directed to resolve in 2006 and 2007. USCIS has a unit that investigates fraud called the “Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (“FDNS”). (It is ironic that USCIS places fraud and national security in the same office.) They apparently have identified several areas of fraud in the adjudication of applications for permanent residence. These areas are with 1) religious worker petitions; 2) petitions for skilled and unskilled workers; 3) petitions for spouses; 4) petitions for relatives from Yemen, and 5) applications for political asylum. (This report did not discuss how those areas were identified.) The GAO noted that aside from some movement in regulations for religious workers, USCIS has not taken any action in the other areas where USCIS itself found fraud.

The GAO also found evidence that USCIS’ own adjudication procedures were vulnerable to fraud by employees of USCIS and they gave an example of where this happened.

The GAO strongly urged USCIS to take action on the areas they have identified, otherwise people not entitled to benefits will receive them while others who have filed legitimate petitions must continue to wait in long backlogs.

Posted by Geri Kahn | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Asylee , Immigration Law , Visa Petition

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I was at the eye doctor yesterday and my doctor asked me whether or not immigrants can receive Medicaid. This is a question I hear a lot. The answer to the question depends on a person's legal status in the United States, the date he or she entered the United States and the person's income.

Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides health insurance coverage to certain categories of low-income individuals, including children, pregnant women, parents of eligible children, seniors and people with disabilities. Each state administers its own Medicaid program. In California, the name of the program is Medi-Cal. In general, it is a program for people who have limited income and no health insurance or poor health insurance. There are various criteria for eligibility including age, pregnancy, disability, blindness, income and resources, and one's status in the United States. This blog post will focus on the legal status aspect.

First, in order to receive Medicaid, you have to be what is called a "qualified immigrant." Qualified immigrants include the following: 1) lawful permanent residents (green card holders); 2) refugees, asylees, persons granted withholding of deportation/removal, conditional entry (in effect prior to April 1, 1980), or paroled into the United States for at least one year; 3) Cuban/Haitian entrants; 4) battered spouses and children with a pending or approved a) self-petition for an immigrant visa, or b) immigrant visa filed for a spouse or child by a U.S. Citizen or lawful permanent resident, or c) applicant for cancellation of removal/suspension of deportation, whose need for benefits has a substantial connection to the battery or cruelty. A parent/child of a battered child/spouse are also "qualified." Victims of trafficking are not included in the "qualified" definition but they and their derivative beneficiaries are eligible for benefits funded or administered by federal agencies, without regard to their immigration status. Any non-citizen who does not fall under one of those preceding categories would not be eligible for Medicaid.

Continue reading "Can immigrants receive Medicaid?" »

Posted by Geri Kahn | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Asylee , Immigrants , Immigration Law , Public benefits , Refugee

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Effective today, a new law extends SSI eligibility for an additional two years to asylees, refugees, persons granted withholding of removal and other humanitarian immigrants. This law will benefit many people who had been cut off of SSI because they were not citizens.

If you lost SSI because you were not a citizen within seven years, you may now receive an additional two years if you meet one of the following conditions:

1. You are under 18 years old or over 70 years old; OR
2. You have been a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) for less than six years; OR
3. You applied for lawful permanent residence within four years after you started receiving SSI: OR
4. You are or were granted status as a Cuban Haitian Entrant; OR
5. You have been granted withholding of removal; OR
6. You have a pending application for citizenship but you are not yet an American citizen.

Continue reading "New law extends SSI eligibility for asylees and refugees " »

Posted by Geri Kahn | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Asylee , Disability , Immigration Law , Refugee , SSI , Social Security

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