Abreu v. Callahan

• Decision Date: 24 July 1997
• Docket Number: No. 97 CIV. 2133(LAK).,No. 97 CIV. 2126(LAK).,97 CIV. 2126(LAK).,97 CIV. 2133(LAK).
• Citation: 971 F.Supp. 799
• Parties: Juan Thomas ABREU, et al., Plaintiffs, v. John J. CALLAHAN, et al., Defendants. The CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

971 F.Supp. 799

Juan Thomas ABREU, et al., Plaintiffs, v. John J. CALLAHAN, et al., Defendants.

The CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants.

No. 97 CIV. 2126(LAK).

No. 97 CIV. 2133(LAK).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

July 24, 1997.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Helaine Barrett, Scott A. Rosenberg, Dennis Boyd, The Legal Aid Society, Yisroel Schulman, Froska A. Alfonso, Michael D. Scherz, New York Legal Asst. Grp., Nancy Chang, Alan Levine, Laura Davis, Center for Constitutional Rights, Jill Ann Boskey, Christopher James Bowes, Center for Disability Advocacy, for Plaintiffs in No. 97-2126.

Gail Rubin, Hilary B. Klein, June R. Buch, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Paul A. Crotty, Corp. Counsel of the City of New York, for City of New York.

Leon B. Gold, John Diegel, Chloe Wasserman, Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn L.L.P., for Individual Plaintiffs in No. 97-2133.

Jonathan A. Willens, Asst. U.S. Atty., Mary Jo White, U.S. Atty., Arthur J. Fried, Gen. Counsel, Social Sec. Admin., James S. Gilliland, Gen. Counsel, Dept. of Agriculture, Richard G. Lepley, David M. Souders, U.S. Dept. of Justice, for Defendants.

OPINION

KAPLAN, District Judge.

For many years, lawful resident aliens who were impoverished and either blind, disabled, or aged were entitled to receive Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") benefits and food stamps. Section 402 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (hereinafter the "Welfare Reform Act"),¹ which was signed into law on August 22, 1996, disqualified many lawful resident aliens — including those who already were in the United States and already receiving or eligible for SSI and food stamps — from receiving those benefits.

This case does not present the question whether Congress may provide that aliens who enter or become permanent residents of the United States on or after August 22, 1996 may not receive welfare benefits. Plaintiffs, however, contend that the application of Section 402 to persons who already were legal resident aliens on the date the Welfare Reform Act became law violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. They seek a preliminary injunction barring its enforcement against such persons. Defendants seek dismissal of the complaints.

Facts

The Programs at Issue

The SSI program provides subsistence-level income for the most disabled and financially needy members of our society.² The program was created in order to meet "the most basic needs" of impoverished aged, blind and disabled individuals.³

In order to qualify for SSI benefits, one must be at least 65 years of age, have corrected visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye or equivalent loss of vision, or be "unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity" by reason of a medically determinable impairment or combination of impairments lasting at least twelve months.⁴ Moreover, eligibility is restricted to applicants with no more than $2,000 in resources and whose income (including any "deemed" income) is below the applicable SSI benefit level.⁵

The Food Stamp Program was enacted in 1964 and is administered by the Department of Agriculture. Based on a congressional finding that "the limited food purchasing power of low-income households contributes to hunger and malnutrition among members of such households,"⁶ the program provides stamps that are used as scrip for the purchase of foodstuffs by eligible persons.⁷ Eligibility is restricted to households with net incomes below the federal poverty level and resources below $2,000 or, if a household member is disabled or age 60 or older, below $3,000.⁸ Any household that includes a recipient of SSI automatically is eligible for food stamps.⁹

The Welfare Reform Act

The Welfare Reform Act was a result of extensive legislative activity concerning revision of welfare benefit programs funded by the federal government. This activity took place against a background of increasing numbers of immigrants on the welfare rolls at even more sharply increasing costs. According to a General Accounting Office report issued in February 1995, the number of immigrants receiving SSI increased from 151,207 in 1983 to 683,178 in 1993.¹⁰ The proportion of SSI recipients who were not citizens grew from 6 percent in 1986 to 12 percent in 1994.¹¹ The growth rate in noncitizen SSI cases, although it had tapered off from even higher earlier levels, remained almost double the rate of increase among citizens.¹² This increase in the noncitizen case load was compounded by the increase in the cost of benefits, which quadrupled overall between 1980 and 1996.¹³

Section 402(a)(1) of the Welfare Reform Act provides, with certain exceptions, that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of law and except as provided in paragraph (2), an alien who is a qualified alien ... is not eligible for" SSI or food stamps.¹⁴ The term "qualified alien" includes permanent resident aliens.¹⁵ The exceptions include permanent resident aliens who have "worked 40 qualifying quarters of coverage as defined under Title II of the Social Security Act"¹⁶ and veterans and certain military personnel on active duty and their spouses and children.¹⁷ The effect of the Act therefore is to disqualify many, but not all, permanent resident aliens from receiving SSI and food stamps. Those permanent resident aliens excepted from Section 402(a)(1), however, remain eligible for SSI and food stamps on the same basis as citizens.

Section 402, as recently amended, directs the Commissioner of Social Security, by September 30, 1997, to redetermine the eligibility of aliens who were receiving SSI benefits as of August 22, 1996, and to terminate SSI benefits for those who do not satisfy the newly enacted statutory requirements.¹⁸ For aliens who were not receiving benefits on August 22, 1996, Section 402 was effective immediately. In addition, the Social Security Administration ("SSA") takes the position that "aliens with claims and appeals of denied claims [as of August 22, 1996] are subject to the eligibility rules [of Section 402] for the entire period in the life of the application, including the months before August 1996."¹⁹ The SSA thus intends to deny benefits for periods prior to August 22, 1996 to lawful permanent residents whose applications had not yet been granted even if they were qualified under the eligibility rules applicable during those periods.

The Impact of the Act

The Individual Plaintiffs and the Alleged Class

The individual plaintiffs, like all of those affected by the challenged aspect of this legislation, are aged, blind and/or totally disabled and extremely poor. Most were receiving SSI benefits and food stamps on August 22, 1996 and face termination of those benefits on September 30, 1997.²⁰ Those in the Abreu case seek to represent a class consisting of all lawful permanent residents in New York State, Connecticut and Vermont who (1) are or will be age 65 or older, blind, or disabled; (2) were residing in the United States on August 22, 1996, (3) either (i) were recipients of SSI on August 22, 1996, or (ii) are or will be applicants for SSI benefits, and (4) have been or will be disqualified from receiving SSI and food stamps by operation of Section 402.²¹

The impact of this legislation on the individual plaintiffs and the class will be severe. The 1997 federal SSI benefit rate for one person is $484 per month. For SSI recipients living alone in New York State, this rate is increased by a New York State supplement to as much as $570,²² still a figure far below the current poverty level of $657.50 per month.²³ According to a recent study, the average monthly rent of New York SSI recipients was $306. Thus, those who receive the total $570 benefit are left, on average, with $264 plus an average of $86 per month in food stamps to cover all of the other necessities of life.²⁴ Section 402 will deprive these individuals of SSI benefits and food stamps, thus leaving them with no income at all. If they succeed in qualifying for state public assistance benefits, the monthly incomes of those in New York City will drop to $352 per month,²⁵ leaving (after payment of rent) an average of $46 per month for food, transportation and all other needs.²⁶

Absent congressional action²⁷ or substantially increased state and local assistance, the practical consequences of Section 402 are likely to include evictions, homelessness, and inability to afford unreimbursed medical expenses.²⁸ Many members of the alleged class, and a number of the individual plaintiffs, have neither family nor sponsors to whom to turn.²⁹ Age and infirmity prevent a number of the individual plaintiffs and class members from becoming citizens and thus qualifying for benefits. There is no reason to suppose that the resources of private charitable institutions are sufficient to fill entirely the role previously filled by federal benefits.

The City of New York

Section 402 threatens the City of New York with serious consequences as well. According to data from the SSA, approximately 73,000 persons, almost 20 percent of the current SSI recipients in the City, are likely to be rendered ineligible for SSI and food stamps by this statute.³⁰ The City Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") estimates that in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1997, 2,000 applicants or prospective applicants who were in the country on August 22, 1996 would have qualified for SSI benefits and food stamps had Section 402 not gone into effect.³¹

The financial burden that will be shifted to the City is substantial. Those who previously would have qualified for SSI may be eligible for public assistance benefits, such as home relief or aid to dependent children ("ADC"), funded in part by the City.³² OMB estimates that the denial of SSI and food stamps to legal immigrants who were in the country before the date of the statute's passage will cost the City...