c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Two Jewish groups, joined by Christian supporters and members of Congress, Monday (April 14) launched a three-day lobbying effort to convince Congress to reinstate benefits for legal immigrants that were taken away as part of last year’s welfare reform legislation.

The groups, The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) and the American Association of Jews from the Former Soviet Union (AAJFSU), used a fragment of a prayer from the upcoming Passover service _”all who are hungry, let them come and eat”_ to emphasize the plight of hundreds of legal immigrants who they say could be turned out into the streets if the legislation is not modified.”The Personal Responsibility Act of 1996 contains unfair, unconstitutional and discriminative (provisions), depriving legal immigrants of all kinds of the social benefits,”Leonid Stonov, AAJFSU president, told a rally that attracted several thousand demonstrators to the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.

The legislation _ part of last year’s overhaul of the nation’s welfare system _ prohibits legal immigrants from receiving benefits such as Food Stamps and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a federal program providing monthly cash payments to low-income elderly and disabled people, including 500,000 legal immigrants. It also allows states to decide whether to provide non-emergency Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), or other public assistance services.”If seven years ago, when I still lived in Moscow, I would have been told about the possibility of such a new law in the U.S.A., I would have read it as wistful anti-Western communist propaganda,”Stonov said.

He said Congress should pass legislation to reinstate benefits to legal immigrants, protecting the vulnerable and helping the United States maintain its image as”the most highly moral country in the world. “America has to remain a beacon of democracy and a bastion of freedom and justice for everybody,”he said.

Yosef Abramowitz, UCSJ president, said some immigrants have in desperation committed suicide since the repeal of their Food Stamps benefits April 1. Other provisions, such as barring SSI services, are set to take effect Aug. 22. Some 1 million legal immigrants will be affected by the changes.”This is a matter of life and death to us,”65-year-old rally participant David Fiterman of Los Angeles said through the help of a translator.

Fiterman, who emigrated from Ukraine two years ago, and other protesters from cities such as St. Louis, Milwaukee, Chicago and Philadelphia, want Congress to extend the time legal immigrants have to take citizenship tests from five years to seven years.”People my age cannot take the exam in English. I go to school every day and I have taken this very seriously,”he said.”Not knowing the language is damaging … but we’re not given enough time to learn,”he said.

At a briefing before the rally, Abramowitz introduced a six-point plan calling for an emergency extension of benefits and a”permanent fix”to the 1996 law.

Abramowitz outlined what he called a”just and compassionate solution”that would exempt from the legislation immigrants under age 18 and over age 75; immigrants who become disabled after entering the United States; and those with pending naturalization applications. “In their zeal to balance the budget, (Congress) ignored the obvious fact that nearly half the money to be saved _ 44 percent _ was to be found by denying life-saving benefits to politically vulnerable legal immigrants who could not become citizens,”said Abramowitz.

He also warned Congress that citizens with family and friends suffering as a result of the law will show their displeasure in the 1998 elections.”The powerful American Jewish community and other communities of faith and conscience will play election hardball next year”if Congress does not address the concerns of the immigrants, Abramowitz said.

USCJ is circulating a petition, already with over 10,000 signatures, urging President Clinton and Congress to”remedy the hardships placed on elderly and disabled legal immigrants and refugees.”The organization hopes to have 100,000 signatures by late May.

Abramowitz said the savings from welfare cuts for legal immigrants is $23.7 million per year, but legal immigrants already pay $30 million more per year in taxes than they receive in public services.

END JONGSMA