Issue Position: Immigration
Issue Position
"Solving our immigration crisis involves more than just building the wall on the southern border, which I wholeheartedly support.
President Trump knows more is needed as well. That's why he is trying to reform our welfare system, which serves as a magnet for millions to come to the U.S. It's also why President Trump needs advocates in Congress capable of supporting his efforts with new legislation.
Today, we pay billions of dollars in benefits to legal immigrants, even though our laws have always given preference for "self-sufficiency' among those who immigrate to our nation. President Trump is trying to stop this abuse, and I know how to lend him a hand in the U.S. House to get the job done.
There are many reasons why the U.S. now finds itself handing out billions to non-citizens. I offer this information to Republicans in TX-17, because I know conservatives want to know the facts. After learning more about how our immigration system is being abused, I ask for your vote.
Together, we can work with President Trump to pass these needed reforms."
What is the Public Charge Rule and its History?
*Since 1882, federal law has denied entry into the U.S. for anyone deemed likely to become "a public charge." For decades, the definition of "public charge" was simply a person incapable of being self-sufficient.
*With the expansion of welfare benefits in 1965 under LBJ's Great Society program, few restrictions were placed on immigrants receiving federal benefits.
*When Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, one of their top proposals was welfare reform. In 1996, the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act" was passed into law, which did the following:
**Disqualified "undocumented workers" (illegal immigrants) from receiving any public assistance;
**Placed a five-year ban on legal immigrants becoming "public charges." However, the act did not define "public charge," although most agreed it meant anyone dependent on public "cash" assistance benefits.
**In 1999, the Clinton Administration filled in the blanks, allowing legal immigrants to receive "non-cash" benefits, including subsidized housing, food stamps, Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). These allowances were relaxed further under President Obama.
What are the rules today, before the Trump Rule change?
Today, legal immigrants may access "non-cash" welfare programs in the U.S., but they may not obtain certain "cash" benefits for five years, if they hold green cards. However, past Presidents have extended many waivers to certain classes of legal immigrants (refugees, for instance) and certain states (California, for example), which favor giving more benefits to immigrants. These waivers along with the lack of a clear definition of "public charge" have led to confusion, creating haphazard enforcement of the rule. Today, millions of legal immigrants are on one or more welfare benefit programs, liberally defined as "non-cash."
How many legal immigrants are on welfare?
As of 2015*, approximately 13 million legal immigrants were living in the U.S., eight million of whom were eligible to become U.S. citizens, due to their lengths of residency and other qualifications.
How many are on welfare?
To answer that question, a great deal of cross-referencing would be required between different federal agencies and states. Many bureaucracies resist performing that analysis.
What we know is this: every year there are about a half million legal immigrants who apply to become legal citizens. If the U.S. fully implemented the Trump Public Charge Rule, three-out-of-five applicants would be "negatively affected" according to experts. This means those applicants would likely be deemed as "public charges." Therefore, more than 300,000 legal immigrants who seek citizenship every year are on one welfare program or another.
How did the Boston Marathon Bombers support themselves while planning their attack?
They were on welfare.
On April 15, 2013, two brothers -- both legal immigrants -- placed bombs in the finish-line section of the Boston Marathon.
Once the bombs were detonated and the terrorists' killing spree came to an end, four Americans were dead, 240 bystanders were injured, and seventeen victims were left to live the rest of their lives with amputated limbs.
After the event, information slowly surfaced about the two Russian-born bombers: the terrorists had largely lived on welfare since immigrating to the United States.
*The Tsarnaev family had received more than $100,000 total in public assistance.
*Lived in subsidized housing.
*Had intermittently received food stamps as able-bodied adults.
Were the Tsarnaev Brothers alone in using welfare benefits against the U.S.?
One of the most widely read jihadist magazines (Inspire) encouraged its readers "to seek the wealth of the disbelievers" to use it against "the infidels."
The food stamp program is an easy way to "steal the wealth." In just one operation, immigrants converted fraudulently obtained food stamps into $1.4 million, then sent the cash to underground groups in Somalia.
In two other cases, ISIS fighters killed on the battle field in the Middle East were found to have been food stamp recipients while living (legally) in the U.S. -- one from Iran, the other from Iraq.
One report concluded that "terrorist supporters were able to operate with near-impunity for years without drawing attention from fraud investigators."
President Trump is trying to change the rules that give welfare benefits to non-citizens.
Pete Sessions will help President Trump change those rules.
What is the Trump Public Charge Rule?
The Trump Public Charge Rule went through extensive legal review and thorough public comment before its 217 pages were released in final form.
The rule defines public charge "non-cash" benefits as food stamps, Section 8 housing assistance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid and parts of Medicare.
For legal immigrants who are on one or more of those programs for twelve months out any 36-month period, they would be classified as "public charges" and would be less eligible to becoming U.S. citizens.
The Trump rule does not deny all benefits to legal immigrants. Emergency Medicaid assistance, disaster relief, "Women, Infants and Children" (WIC) nutrition, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Medicaid for immigrants under the age of 21 and pregnant women are not included in the new rule.
After the Trump Public Charge Rule was released, twenty-seven Democrat Senators filed a bill to repeal it, and the ACLU filed a lawsuit to stop its enforcement. The Supreme Court has ruled the Trump Administration can begin implementing the rule, as lower courts consider its constitutionality.
The Pete Sessions Plan to help President Trump enforce the new Public Charge Rule
The Trump Administration's Public Charge Rule is exactly as it sounds -- a rule. It could be revoked by any future president, or simply not enforced by any administration without announcing that change to the public.
To ensure that the new Trump Public Charge Rule remains in force, Pete Sessions will place the well-crafted language of the new rule into a bill for Congress to pass. This will be the first piece of legislation he introduces in the next Congress, if he is elected our congressman in 2020.
If the U.S. wasn't giving welfare benefits to non-citizens, what could it do with $30 billion per year? We could
*Double the amount spent on operation and maintenance of federal highways;
*Increase spending on research at National Institutes of Health by almost 80 percent per year;
*Raise the number of research projects on curing diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer from 6,000 to more than 10,000 per year.
How does $30 billion per year compare to how much other countries spend on their own citizens?
Of the 195 countries in the world, only about 60 of them have central governments with budgets in excess of $30 billion. This means that citizens in more than 70 percent of the countries in the world would likely receive more benefits moving to the U.S. than if they stayed in their home countries.
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