Aziz v. Sullivan, Civ. A. No. 91-1912-A

• Decision Date: 10 August 1992
• Docket Number: 91-1913.,Civ. A. No. 91-1912-A
• Citation: 800 F. Supp. 1374
• Parties: Maliha AZIZ, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health and Human Services; and Larry Jackson, Comm'r of Va. Dept. of Social Services, Defendants. Maliha AZIZ, Plaintiff, v. Edward MADIGAN, Secretary, United States Dept. of Agriculture; and Larry Jackson, Comm'r of Va. Dept. of Social Services, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia

800 F. Supp. 1374

Maliha AZIZ, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Louis W. SULLIVAN, Secretary of Health and Human Services; and Larry Jackson, Comm'r of Va. Dept. of Social Services, Defendants.

Maliha AZIZ, Plaintiff, v. Edward MADIGAN, Secretary, United States Dept. of Agriculture; and Larry Jackson, Comm'r of Va. Dept. of Social Services, Defendants.

Civ. A. Nos. 91-1912-A, 91-1913.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Alexandria Division.

August 10, 1992.

Richard Peyton Whiteley, Legal Services of Northern Virginia, Arlington, Va., for plaintiffs.

Mary Sue Terry, Atty. Gen., Richmond, Va., Theresa Carroll Buchanan, Asst. U.S. Atty., Alexandria, Va., Gaye Lynn Taxey, Asst. Atty. Gen., Fairfax, Va., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ELLIS, District Judge.

Introduction

This case raises an important question, novel in this circuit, concerning resident alien eligibility for certain welfare benefits. At issue specifically is the correct interpretation of the phrase "entry into the United States" in two nearly identical statutory provisions, one in the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 615(a) (1991), and the other in the Food Stamp Act, 7 U.S.C. § 2014(i)(1) (1988). Both provisions, commonly known as the "sponsor-to-alien income deeming provisions", restrict a permanent resident alien's eligibility for benefits under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children ("AFDC") and Food Stamp programs, respectively, by deeming the income and resources of the alien's sponsor available to the alien for three years following the permanent resident alien's "entry into the United States." 42 U.S.C. § 615(a); 7 U.S.C. § 2014(i)(1). The phrase "entry into the United States" is not defined in either statute. But regulations promulgated under the authority of defendant Secretary Sullivan, administrator of the AFDC program, and defendant Secretary Madigan, administrator of the Food Stamp program, do define this phrase as the date upon which the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") approves the alien for "permanent residence" in the United States. See 45 C.F.R. § 233.51(a), (b) (1991); 7 C.F.R. § 273.11(j)(1), (2) (1992). Relying on this regulatory definition, defendants denied AFDC and Food Stamp benefits to plaintiff, Maliha Aziz ("Aziz"), a permanent resident alien. Aziz argues that the regulations are invalid as unfaithful to the plain meaning of the statutes. Accordingly, Aziz seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to invalidate the regulatory definitions of the statutory phrase "entry into the United States" in the AFDC and Food Stamp sponsor-to-alien income deeming provisions.

Given that the matter is before the Court on cross-motions for summary judgment¹ and because no material facts are disputed, this cause is ripe for summary disposition. For the reasons set forth below, the Court concludes that the phrase "entry into the United States", when read in the context of each statute as a whole, is not unambiguous and that the consistent regulatory interpretations of this statutory phrase are permissible, and hence valid and entitled to deference here.

Facts

Aziz, a native of Afghanistan, first arrived in the United States in 1980 to receive medical treatment. While here, she gave birth to her older son, Eleas, who is a United States citizen. After completion of her medical treatment, Aziz and Eleas returned to Afghanistan. Following the loss of her husband during an armed conflict in that country,² she came back to the United States with Eleas and her younger son, Sohail, who was born outside this country. Upon returning to the United States, Aziz applied to the INS for political asylum for herself and Sohail. Two years later, Aziz changed her application to one for permanent residence. As part of this application, Aziz' brother, Khairuddin Fakhri ("Fakhri"), a permanent resident of the United States, filed an Affidavit of Sponsorship with the INS in which he promised to assist Aziz and Sohail for three years after their entry into the United States to ensure that they would not become public charges during that time.³ The affidavit was dated June 15, 1987. On September 1, 1989, the INS approved Aziz and Sohail for permanent resident status. Having attained that status and being in need of assistance, Aziz applied for, and began receiving, Food Stamp and AFDC benefits from the Fairfax County Department of Human Development in June 1990. Shortly thereafter, Aziz received notification that her AFDC and Food Stamp benefits were being terminated pursuant to the AFDC and Food Stamp sponsor-to-alien income deeming statutes and the accompanying regulations.

The AFDC and Food Stamp sponsor-to-alien income deeming statutes, 42 U.S.C. § 615(a)⁴ and 7 U.S.C. § 2014(i)(1),⁵ require that when determining eligibility for, and the amount of benefits available to, a permanent resident alien,⁶ the income and resources of such alien's sponsor must be deemed available to the alien for three years after the alien's "entry into the United States." And the regulations define "entry into the United States" to mean entry into the United States as a lawful permanent resident. See 45 C.F.R. § 233.51(a), (b),⁷ 7 C.F.R. § 273.11(j)(1), (2).⁸ Thus, under the regulations, a sponsor's income and resources must be deemed available to an alien for three years after the alien achieves lawful permanent resident status.

In accordance with these regulations, the Fairfax County Department of Human Development determined that Aziz' 1990 AFDC and Food Stamp applications fell within this three-year sponsor-to-alien income deeming period. Thus, before the County could accurately assess her eligibility for AFDC and Food Stamp benefits, or the amount of benefits to which she was entitled, Aziz was required, by regulation, to submit for verification Fakhri's (her sponsor's), income and resources. See 45 C.F.R. § 233.51(a); 7 C.F.R. § 273.11(j)(2). She failed to do so on her 1990 applications and this resulted in the termination of her benefits. Aziz then requested and received a state administrative hearing to review the assistance termination. Following the hearing, a hearing officer for the Virginia Department of Social Services issued a decision remanding the determination to the local agency for verification of the family's date of entry into the United States. The local agency, the Fairfax County Department of Human Development, then verified that INS admitted Aziz and Sohail into this country as permanent residents on September 1, 1989. Therefore, the Department of Human Development again informed Aziz that her eligibility for AFDC and Food Stamp benefits would be restricted by her sponsor's income and resources for three years following September 1, 1989, her date of entry into the United States as a lawful permanent resident.

Aziz now challenges the regulations defining the phrase "entry into the United States", arguing that the definitions lack statutory authority and deprive her of AFDC and Food Stamp benefits she claims she is entitled to under federal law. Specifically, Aziz argues that the phrase "entry into the United States", as used in the AFDC and Food Stamp sponsor-to-alien income deeming statutes, should be given its plain and unambiguous meaning, namely, "physical entry", and that her eligibility for benefits should only be restricted for three years from that date. Under this interpretation, Aziz claims that she would have been eligible for Food Stamp and AFDC benefits in 1990 without regard to her sponsor's income and resources because her benefit applications were filed more than three years after her physical entry into the United States. At issue, then, is whether the challenged regulations are faithful to the parent statutes.

Analysis

Challenges to an agency's interpretation of a statute it is entrusted to administer are governed by well-settled principles. In such a case, the Court must apply the two-step test articulated in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). First, the Court must determine whether the statutory language itself is plain and unambiguous. If so, "that is the end of the matter; for the court, as well as the agency, must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress." Id. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. at 2781. In applying this step of Chevron, "the court must look to the particular statutory language at issue, as well as the language and design of the statute as a whole." Sullivan v. Everhart, 494 U.S. 83, 88, 110 S.Ct. 960, 964, 108 L.Ed.2d 72 (1990) (quoting K Mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc., 486 U.S. 281, 291, 108 S.Ct. 1811, 1817, 100 L.Ed.2d 313 (1988)). If, however, "the statute is "silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, the question for the court is whether the agency's answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute." Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. at 2782. See also Udall v. Tallman, 380 U.S. 1, 16, 85 S.Ct. 792, 801, 13 L.Ed.2d 616 (1965) ("To sustain the agency's application of a statutory term, we need not find that its construction is the only reasonable one or even that it is the result we would have reached had the question arisen in the first instance in judicial proceedings.") (citations omitted); Shanty Town Assoc. Partnership v. EPA, 843 F.2d 782, 790 (4th Cir.1988).

These principles, applied here, require that the search for congressional intent begin with an examination of the statutory language itself. Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. at 2781-82. In pertinent part, both the AFDC and Food Stamp sponsor-to-alien income deeming statutes state:

"For purposes of determining eligibility for and the amount of benefits ... for an individual who is an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, the income and resources of any person who (as a sponsor of such individual's entry into the United States) executed an affidavit of support or similar agreement

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