American kids denied food stamps in Alabama under immigration law
What do you think? Should children that are US citizens go without food because their parents are illegal?
Some U.S.-born children with parents who are illegal immigrants have been denied food stamps under Alabama's new immigration law, Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen told Yahoo News on Monday.
Five people have called into the group's Alabama hotline to say they were denied food stamps because they couldn't prove they were legal residents, even though the food stamps are for their children, who are citizens.
Cohen says the civil rights group, which has already filed two lawsuits against Alabama over the law, will most likely bring another suit over the denied food stamps.
The law makes it a felony for a government employee to engage in "business transactions" with illegal immigrants, which some government employees have interpreted very broadly. Illegal immigrants have been told they can't pay their utility bills or even their taxes because it would count as a "transaction" with the government, according to Cohen.
Barry Spear, a spokesman for Alabama's Department of Human Services, said in an email to Yahoo News that it is not the agency's policy to demand proof of citizenship from the guardians of Americans who need food stamps. "We are unaware of any violations of the policy," Spear said.
Several parts of the law have been temporarily blocked pending the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision on whether the law is constitutional or not. But the "business transaction" prohibition, as well as a mandate for local police to ask for proof of legal status during stops, were left to stand. Some Republican lawmakers say they want to amend the law this year, while a coalition of Democrats is trying to repeal it entirely.
Illegal immigrants are prohibited from accessing most welfare benefits, including food stamps, non-emergency Medicaid and cash welfare programs. Their children, if born in America, can access welfare programs as citizens. (The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that about 4.5 million American citizens under 18 years old have at least one undocumented parent.)
Last month, Kansas kicked more than 1,000 mixed-status families off its food stamp program when it joined three other states in adopting a stricter food stamp eligibility policy. A low-income family of five made up of two undocumented parents and three citizen children now has to show that its income is close to the poverty level for a family of three--not a family of five--in order to access food stamps. This is intended to prevent illegal immigrants from benefiting from food stamps, but immigration advocates say it will leave citizen kids hungry.
The Justice Department has sued Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina and Utah over laws that crack down on illegal immigrants, saying they interfere with the federal government's control over immigration. The Supreme Court will hear arguments over Arizona's SB1070 beginning on April 25.
I think anyone who would deny food for ANY child is just plain wrong. But these are American children, which should mean something even to the most heartless anti-immigration advocate. Hard to believe we would treat our own citizens this way....
I don't know how FS's work, but can the children apply themselves? Is there a way to skirt this?
I think that children born to two illegal parents shouldn't be given citizenship in the first place. I think that would resolve part of the issue.
I know that's not popular opinion, but I stand by it.
I think that is crap. I see we are picking and choosing who is a worthwhile citizen and who is not.
People can complain all they want about the parents being illegal, but the fact is, under current law, the children are INDEED legal citizens and as such, are accorded the same rights as other citizens who you may deem more important than them. That is a very ugly and very slippery slope to start making different tiers for citizens who get benefits, and citizens who don't.
Not only that, we are talking about CHILDREN. For God's sake, feed them!
Quoting heidimoose134:
I think that children born to two illegal parents shouldn't be given citizenship in the first place. I think that would resolve part of the issue.
I know that's not popular opinion, but I stand by it.
I agree with this.
But what about the fact that they are now legal citizens? What do you do?
Quoting im23vaughn:
Quoting heidimoose134:
I think that children born to two illegal parents shouldn't be given citizenship in the first place. I think that would resolve part of the issue.
I know that's not popular opinion, but I stand by it.
I agree with this.
The system is designed to not only feed kids, but their parents as well. We don't get 400+ a month just to feed our kids. It's enough to feed dh and I too. So it makes sense that they would have different measuring scales for illegal parents. I am cold-hearted on this issue, simply becasue I don't personaly know anyone who is illegal. Don't they think of these things before they come into our country illegally and decide to have kids? Or even if they did, or had kids unintentionally, they should have started the citizenship process years ago.
Quoting heidimoose134:
I think that children born to two illegal parents shouldn't be given citizenship in the first place. I think that would resolve part of the issue.
I know that's not popular opinion, but I stand by it.
I agree with this as well.
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