DOJ Notice of Eligibility for Public Benefits
[Notices]
[Page 39874-39875]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24jy97-115]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[AG Order No. 2097-97]
Determination of Situations That Demonstrate a Substantial Connection Between Battery or Extreme Cruelty and Need for Specific Public Benefits
AGENCY: Department of Justice.
ACTION: Notice of Determination with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (``PRWORA''), as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, provides that certain categories of aliens who have been subjected to battery or extreme cruelty in the United States are ``qualified aliens'' eligible for certain federal, state, and local public benefits. To be qualified under this provision an alien must demonstrate, among other things, that there is a substantial connection between the battery or extreme cruelty and the need for the public benefit sought. The PRWORA vests in the Attorney General the authority to determine under what circumstances there is a substantial connection between the battery or extreme cruelty suffered by an alien seeking federal, state, or local public benefits and the specific benefits sought by the alien. Through this notice, the Attorney General is declaring what circumstances demonstrate such a substantial connection.
DATES: This Determination is effective July 17, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to Diane Rosenfeld, Senior Counsel, The Violence Against Women Office, United States Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20530, (202) 616-8894.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane Rosenfeld, Senior Counsel, The Violence Against Women Office, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20530, (202) 616-8894.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 431(c) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (``PRWORA''), Pub. L. 104-193, as added by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant, Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-208, provides that certain categories of aliens who have been subjected to battery or extreme cruelty in the United States are ``qualified aliens'' eligible for certain federal, state, and local public benefits. To be a qualified alien under this provision, an alien must demonstrate that: (1) The Immigration and Naturalization Service or the Executive Office for Immigration Review has granted a petition or application filed by or on behalf of the alien or the alien's child under one of several subsections of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or has found that a pending petition or application sets forth a prima facie case; (2) the alien or the alien's child has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the U.S. by a spouse or parent of the alien, or by a member of the spouse's or parent's family residing in the same household as the alien, but only if the spouse or parent consents to or acquiesces in such battery or cruelty and, in the case of a battered child, the alien did not actively participate in the battery or cruelty; (3) there is a substantial connection between the battery or extreme cruelty and the need for the public benefit sought; and (4) the battered alien or child no longer resides in the same household as the abuser.
The Attorney General has the responsibility for determining the circumstances under which an alien has demonstrated a substantial connection between the battery or extreme cruelty and the alien's need for particular benefits. This Determination sets forth the circumstances that, in the Attorney General's opinion, demonstrate the requisite substantial connection. Under PRWORA, the Attorney General's opinion is not subject to review. When drafting this Determination, the Attorney General consulted with federal benefit-granting agencies that will be implementing section 431(c) of
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PRWORA and with other interested parties.
Benefit providers and all other interested parties are requested to provide comments on this Determination. Should these comments indicate that further refinements to the Determination are necessary, it will be revised accordingly.
Delay in the effectiveness of this Determination would necessarily cause further delays in the availability of federal, state, and local public benefits to aliens for whom there is a substantial connection between the battery or extreme cruelty and the need for those public benefits. It would be unnecessary and contrary to the public interest to impose further delays on the availability of such public benefits in these circumstances. Accordingly, I find that there is good cause to exempt this Determination from prior public notice and comment and delay in effective date. This Determination is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866 and is not a ``major rule'' under 5 U.S.C. 804.
Determination of Situations That Demonstrate a Substantial Connection Between Battery or Extreme Cruelty and Need for Specific Public Benefits
By virtue of the authority vested in me as Attorney General by law, including section 431(c) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, as amended, I hereby determine that an alien applying for federal, state, or local public benefits who (or whose child) has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty demonstrates that there is a substantial connection between the battery or extreme cruelty suffered by the alien (or the alien's child) and the need for the public benefit(s) sought under any one or more of the following circumstances:
(1) Where the benefits are needed to enable the alien and/or the alien's child to become self-sufficient following separation from the abuser;
(2) Where the benefits are needed to enable the alien and/or the alien's child to escape the abuser and/or the community in which the abuser lives, or to ensure the safety of the alien and/or his or her child from the abuser;
(3) Where the benefits are needed due to a loss of financial support resulting from the alien's and/or his or her child's separation from the abuser;
(4) Where the benefits are needed because the battery or cruelty, separation from the abuser, or work absence or lower job performance resulting from the battery or extreme cruelty or from legal proceedings relating thereto (including resulting child support or child custody disputes) cause the alien and/or the alien's child to lose his or her job or require the alien and/or the alien's child to leave his or her job for safety reasons;
(5) Where the benefits are needed because the alien or his or her child requires medical attention or mental health counseling, or has become disabled, as a result of the battery or cruelty;
(6) Where the benefits are needed because the loss of a dwelling or source of income or fear of the abuser following separation from the abuser jeopardizes the aliens' ability to care for his or her children (e.g., inability to house, feed, or clothe children or to put children into day care for fear of being found by the batterer);
(7) Where the benefits are needed to alleviate nutritional risk or need resulting from the abuse or following separation from the abuser;
(8) Where the benefits are needed to provide medical care during an unwanted pregnancy resulting from the abuser's sexual assault or abuse of, or relationship with, the alien or his or her child, and/or to care for any resulting children; or
(9) Where medical coverage and/or health care services are needed to replace medical coverage or health care services the applicant or child had when living with the abuser.
In the event that the facts presented by the alien are different from the situations described above, but the benefit provider or the applicant nevertheless believes that the applicant satisfies the substantial connection requirement, either the benefit provider or the applicant should obtain a determination from the Department of Justice as to whether, in the Attorney General's opinion, the applicant's need for the benefit is substantially connected to the battery or cruelty. Benefit providers or applicants requiring such a determination should contact the Violence Against Women Office, U.S. Department of Justice, the Director of which is hereby authorized to issue such determinations.
Dated: July 17, 1997.Janet Reno,
Attorney General.
[FR Doc. 97-19431 Filed 7-23-97; 8:45 am]
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