LIFT the BAR Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2038 To amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide certain benefits to noncitizens, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 15, 2023 Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. HEINRICH, and Mr. LUJA´N) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide certain benefits to noncitizens, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lifting Immigrant 4 Families Through Benefits Access Restoration Act of 5 2023’’ or the ‘‘LIFT the BAR Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 2038 IS SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF BASIC ASSISTANCE TO LAWFULLY 1 PRESENT NONCITIZENS. 2 (a) ELIMINATION OF ARBITRARY ELIGIBILITY RE- 3 STRICTIONS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Sections 402, 403, 411, 412, 5 421, and 422 of the Personal Responsibility and 6 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 7 U.S.C. 1612, 1613, 1621, 1622, 1631, and 1632) 8 are repealed. 9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title IV of 10 the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 11 Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 12 is amended— 13 (A) in section 401(b)(5) (8 U.S.C. 14 1611(b)(5)), by striking ‘‘the program defined 15 in section 402(a)(3)(A) (relating to the supple- 16 mental security income program)’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘the Supplemental Security Income Program 18 under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 19 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.)’’; 20 (B) in section 404(a) (8 U.S.C. 1614(a)), 21 by striking ‘‘, 402, or 403’’; 22 (C) in section 413 (8 U.S.C. 1625)— 23 (i) by striking ‘‘A State’’ and insert- 24 ing the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 2038 IS ‘‘(a) STATE OR LOCAL PUBLIC BENEFIT DE- 1 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘State or local public 2 benefit’— 3 ‘‘(1) except as provided in paragraphs (2) and 4 (3), means— 5 ‘‘(A) any grant, contract, loan, professional 6 license, or commercial license provided by an 7 agency of a State or local government or by ap- 8 propriated funds of a State or local govern- 9 ment; and 10 ‘‘(B) any retirement, welfare, health, dis- 11 ability, public or assisted housing, postsec- 12 ondary education, food assistance, unemploy- 13 ment benefit, or any other similar benefit for 14 which payments or assistance are provided to 15 an individual, household, or family eligibility 16 unit by an agency of a State or local govern- 17 ment or by appropriated funds of a State or 18 local government; 19 ‘‘(2) does not apply— 20 ‘‘(A) to any contract, professional license, 21 or commercial license for a nonimmigrant 22 whose visa for entry is related to such employ- 23 ment in the United States, or to a citizen of a 24 freely associated state, if section 141 of the ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 2038 IS plicable compact of free association approved in 1 Public Law 99–239 or 99–658 (or a successor 2 provision) is in effect; 3 ‘‘(B) with respect to benefits for an alien 4 who as a work authorized nonimmigrant or as 5 an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi- 6 dence under the Immigration and Nationality 7 Act qualified for such benefits and for whom 8 the United States under reciprocal treaty agree- 9 ments is required to pay benefits, as determined 10 by the Secretary of State, after consultation 11 with the Attorney General; or 12 ‘‘(C) to the issuance of a professional li- 13 cense to, or the renewal of a professional license 14 by, a foreign national not physically present in 15 the United States; and 16 ‘‘(3) does not include any Federal public ben- 17 efit. 18 ‘‘(b) PROOF OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—A 19 State’’; and 20 (ii) in subsection (b), as redesignated, 21 by striking ‘‘(as defined in section 22 411(c))’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 2038 IS (D) in section 432(d) (8 U.S.C. 1642(d)), 1 by striking ‘‘(as defined in section 411(c))’’ and 2 inserting ‘‘(as defined in section 413(a))’’; 3 (E) in section 435 (8 U.S.C. 1645), by 4 striking ‘‘(as provided under section 403)’’; and 5 (F) in section 436 (8 U.S.C. 1646)— 6 (i) by striking ‘‘the food stamp pro- 7 gram (as defined in section 402(a)(3)(B))’’ 8 and inserting ‘‘the supplemental nutrition 9 assistance program established under the 10 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 11 2011 et seq.)’’; and 12 (ii) by striking ‘‘the supplemental se- 13 curity income program (as defined in sec- 14 tion 402(a)(3)(A))’’ and inserting ‘‘the 15 Supplemental Security Income Program 16 under title XVI of the Social Security Act 17 (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.)’’. 18 (b) QUALIFIED NONCITIZENS.—Title IV of the Per- 19 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 20 Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended— 21 (1) in the title header, by striking ‘‘ALIENS’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘NONCITIZENS’’; 23 (2) in the header of section 401 (8 U.S.C. 24 1611), by striking ‘‘ALIENS WHO ARE NOT 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 2038 IS QUALIFIED ALIENS’’ and inserting ‘‘NONCITI- 1 ZENS WHO ARE NOT QUALIFIED NONCITI- 2 ZENS’’; 3 (3) by striking ‘‘qualified alien’’ each place such 4 term appears and inserting ‘‘qualified noncitizen’’; 5 (4) by striking ‘‘qualified aliens’’ each place 6 such term appears and inserting ‘‘qualified nonciti- 7 zens’’; 8 (5) by striking ‘‘qualified alien’s’’ each place 9 such term appears and inserting ‘‘qualified nonciti- 10 zen’s’’; 11 (6) by striking ‘‘an alien’’ each place such term 12 appears and inserting ‘‘a noncitizen’’; 13 (7) by striking ‘‘alien’’ each place such term ap- 14 pears and inserting ‘‘noncitizen’’; 15 (8) by striking ‘‘aliens’’ each place such term 16 appears and inserting ‘‘noncitizens’’; and 17 (9) by striking ‘‘alien’s’’ each place such term 18 appears and inserting ‘‘noncitizen’s’’. 19 (c) ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES FOR LAWFULLY RE- 20 SIDING NONCITIZENS.—Section 431 of the Personal Re- 21 sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 22 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641) is amended— 23 (1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 24 following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 2038 IS ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED NONCITIZEN.—For purposes of this 1 title, the term ‘qualified noncitizen’ means a noncitizen 2 who, at the time the noncitizen applies for, receives, or 3 attempts to receive a Federal public benefit, is lawfully 4 present in the United States.’’; 5 (2) in subsection (c)— 6 (A) in the header, by striking ‘‘QUALIFIED 7 ALIENS’’ and inserting ‘‘QUALIFIED NONCITI- 8 ZENS’’; 9 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 10 the end; 11 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe- 12 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 13 (D) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 14 following: 15 ‘‘(5) a noncitizen— 16 ‘‘(A) in a category that was treated as law- 17 fully present for purposes of section 1101 of the 18 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 19 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18001); 20 ‘‘(B) who met the requirements of section 21 402(a)(2)(D) of the Personal Responsibility and 22 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 23 (8 U.S.C. 1612(a)(2)(D)) on or before January 24 1, 2021; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 2038 IS ‘‘(C) who is granted special immigrant ju- 1 venile status as described by section 2 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Nation- 3 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)); 4 ‘‘(D) who has a pending, bona fide applica- 5 tion for nonimmigrant status under section 6 101(a)(15)(U) of the Immigration and Nation- 7 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(1)(15)(U)); 8 ‘‘(E) who was granted relief under the De- 9 ferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program; 10 or 11 ‘‘(F) who is not described in subpara- 12 graphs (A) through (E), is not a citizen of the 13 United States, resides in a State or territory of 14 the United States, and is authorized by Federal 15 law to be present in the United States.’’; and 16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(d) NONCITIZEN.—In this title, the term ‘noncit- 18 izen’ means any individual who is not a citizen of the 19 United States.’’. 20 (d) CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS.—Section 742 of 21 the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Rec- 22 onciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1615) is amended— 23 (1) in subsection (a)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 2038 IS (A) in the header by striking ‘‘SCHOOL 1 LUNCH AND BREAKFAST PROGRAMS’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS’’; 3 (B) by striking ‘‘the school lunch pro- 4 gram’’ and inserting ‘‘any program’’; and 5 (C) by striking ‘‘the school breakfast pro- 6 gram under section 4 of the’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘any program under’’; and 8 (2) in subsection (b), by amending paragraph 9 (1) to read as follows: 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may not deny ben- 11 efits under programs established under the provi- 12 sions of law described in paragraph (2) on the basis 13 of an individual’s citizenship or immigration sta- 14 tus.’’. 15 (e) EXCLUSION OF MEDICAL ASSISTANCE EXPENDI- 16 TURES FOR CITIZENS OF FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.— 17 Section 1108(h) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 18 1308(h)) is amended— 19 (1) by striking ‘‘Expenditures’’ and inserting: 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Expenditures’’; and 21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—With respect to eligibility 23 for benefits under a State plan approved under title 24 XIX (other than medical assistance described in sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 2038 IS tion 401(b)(1)(A) of the Personal Responsibility and 1 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 2 U.S.C. 1611(b)(1)(A))), paragraph (1) shall not 3 apply to any individual who lawfully resides in 1 of 4 the 50 States or in the District of Columbia in ac- 5 cordance with the Compacts of Free Association be- 6 tween the Government of the United States and the 7 Governments of the Federated States of Micronesia, 8 the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Re- 9 public of Palau and shall not apply, at the option of 10 the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 11 Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or American 12 Samoa as communicated to the Secretary of Health 13 and Human Services in writing, to any individual 14 who lawfully resides in the respective territory in ac- 15 cordance with such Compacts.’’. 16 (f) CHILD HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM.—Section 17 2107(e)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 18 1397gg(e)(1)) is amended— 19 (1) by striking subparagraph (O); and 20 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (P), (Q), 21 (R), (S), (T), and (U) as subparagraphs (O), (P), 22 (Q), (R), (S), and (T), respectively. 23 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 2038 IS (1) SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD ASSISTANCE PRO- 1 GRAM.—The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 2 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended— 3 (A) in section 5 (7 U.S.C. 2014)— 4 (i) in subsection (d)(10), by striking 5 ‘‘(k)’’ and inserting ‘‘(j)’’; 6 (ii) by striking subsection (i); and 7 (iii) by redesignating subsections (j), 8 (k), (l), (m), and (n) as subsections (i), (j), 9 (k), (l), and (m), respectively; 10 (B) in section 6 (7 U.S.C. 2015)— 11 (i) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘an 12 alien lawfully admitted for permanent’’ and 13 all that follows through the end of the sub- 14 section and inserting ‘‘a noncitizen who is 15 lawfully present in the United States.’’; 16 and 17 (ii) in subsection (s)(2), by striking 18 ‘‘(i), (k), (l), (m), and (n)’’ and inserting 19 ‘‘(j), (k), (l), and (m)’’; and 20 (C) in section 11(e)(2)(B)(v)(II) (7 U.S.C. 21 2020(e)(2)(B)(v)(II)) by striking ‘‘aliens’’ and 22 inserting ‘‘noncitizens’’. 23 (2) MEDICAID.—Section 1903(v) of the Social 24 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 2038 IS (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘admit- 1 ted for’’ and all that follows and inserting 2 ‘‘present in the United States.’’; and 3 (B) by striking paragraph (4). 4 (3) HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—Section 214(a) of 5 the Housing and Community Development Act of 6 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a(a)) is amended— 7 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and 8 (7) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and 9 (B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(6) a qualified noncitizen (as defined in sec- 12 tion 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work 13 Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 14 1641));’’. 15 (4) ASSISTANCE NOT TREATED AS DEBT AB- 16 SENT FRAUD.—Section 213A of the Immigration 17 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1183a) is amended— 18 (A) in subsection (a)(3)— 19 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 20 ‘‘(as provided under section 403 of the 21 Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor- 22 tunity Reconciliation Act of 1996)’’; and 23 (ii) in subparagraph (B), in the un- 24 designated matter following clause (ii), by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2038.IS S2038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 2038 IS striking ‘‘(as provided under section 403 of 1 the Personal Responsibility and Work Op- 2 portunity Reconciliation Act of 1996)’’; 3 and 4 (B) in subsection (b)(1)(A) is amended by 5 striking ‘‘benefit,’’ and i [Text truncated for display. 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