But Congress in the summer of 1996 passed a landmark welfare law that denies aid to most legal immigrants who have not become citizens or worked for 10 years. Congress last year restored Supplemental Security Income payments to elderly immigrants who can prove they're disabled. Political refugees are exempt from the new restrictions, but they, too, must abide by strict welfare rules that limit eligibility for two years at a stretch and five years in a lifetime. Before getting the PakPro job two years ago, Truong worked briefly on an assembly line at a San Jose toy company. Truong one of her best workers.
Most elderly immigrants come to live with sons and daughters.
But many, such as Kien Ho, soon yearn for independence. Ho initially lived with his son in San Jose after immigrating from Vietnam in August 1995. But two months after he got the job at PakPro, he and his wife rented a room in a house. The starting pay at PakPro is low. And you have to be a midlevel supervisor to get health insurance.