Access to Federal Benefits for Iraqi and Afghan Military Interpreters
3/16/2009 9:11 am- There are a growing number of Iraqi nationals in both Massachusetts and the rest of the United states who were military interpreters during the Iraq war. In 2007, Congress created a "Special Immigrant Visa" or SIV status to quickly evacuate these allies directly to the United States, bypassing the normal refugee processing. We discovered last year that, due to drafting issues in the federal law, many of these SIV holders are legal permanent residents who are now subject to the five-year bar on federal Food Stamp/SNAP benefits, Medicaid, TANF, employment services and not eligible for SSI.For SIV holders, the current federal law permits only 8 months of RRP and all other federal benefits, and then they are treated like all other Legal Permanent residents - required to wait an additional 4 years and 4 months before they can qualify! (Note - Iraqi nationals who entered with refugee status do NOT have this five year wait and are eligible right away, and indefinitely for most federal benefits beyond the 8 month limit on RRP cash benefits.)
We believe the 8 month limit on Food Stamps/SNAP and other federal benefitswas a drafting error in the originallaws authorizing this SIV status (for both Iraqis and Afghan nationals). MLRI is now working with several Iraqi nationals in Massachusetts who are needing these federal benefits as they fall on hard economic times. We have reignited discussions with members of our Congressional delegation to address this problem in upcoming legislative or budget vehicles. If you are aware of any Iraqi (or Afghan) nationals in this situation who need federal Food Stamp/SNAP benefits or other federal benefits, please contact Pat Baker at MLRI at pbaker@mlri.org or 617-357-0700 x 328.
