Poor, elderly refugees said to face unreasonable demands to get aid

Published: 2007-03-27

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Poor, elderly refugees in the United States are being held to unrealistic and overly restrictive standards that result in their losing Supplemental Security Income benefits, known as SSI, witnesses told a House hearing March 22. Candy Hill, senior vice president for social policy for Catholic Charities USA, told the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the House Ways and Means Committee that despite efforts to qualify for citizenship many elderly refugees simply can't meet the requirements for English fluency and other standards. A seven-year limit on SSI benefits to noncitizens falls hardest on people who fled persecution or torture in their home countries and came to the United States empty-handed, Hill said in her testimony. The group includes Jews who fled the former Soviet Union, Iraqi Kurds, Cubans, Hmong and Kosovar refugees --all of whom are now disabled or too elderly to support themselves and who rely on SSI to survive.

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