LIFT the BAR Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.5227 | Sponsor: Rep. Jayapal, Pramila (D-WA)
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration Act of 2021 or the LIFT the BAR Act of 2021
This bill repeals certain limits on the eligibility of noncitizens who lawfully reside in the United States for federal means-tested programs, including Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), programs funded through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grants, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and certain nutrition and housing programs.

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Lifting Immigrant Families Through 
Benefits Access Restoration Act of 2021'' or the ``LIFT the BAR Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF BASIC ASSISTANCE TO LAWFULLY PRESENT 
              NONCITIZENS.

    (a) Elimination of Arbitrary Eligibility Restrictions.--Sections 
402, 403, 411, 412, 421, and 422 of the Personal Responsibility and 
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612, 1613, 1621, 
1622, 1631, and 1632) are repealed.
    (b) Notification and Information Reporting.--Section 404 of the 
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 
(8 U.S.C. 1614) is amended by striking ``, 402, or 403''.
    (c) Qualified Noncitizens.--Title IV of the Personal Responsibility 
and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 
is amended--
            (1) in the header, by striking ``ALIENS'' and inserting 
        ``NONCITIZENS'' ;
            (2) by striking ``alien'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``noncitizen'';
            (3) by striking ``aliens'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``noncitizens'';
            (4) by striking ``alien's'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``noncitizen's'';
            (5) by striking ``an alien'' each place that it appears and 
        inserting ``a noncitizen'';
            (6) by striking ``alien'' each place that it appears and 
        inserting ``noncitizen'';
            (7) by striking ``qualified alien'' each place that it 
        appears and inserting ``qualified noncitizen'';
            (8) by striking ``qualified aliens'' each place that it 
        appears and inserting ``qualified noncitizens'';
            (9) by striking ``qualified alien's'' each place that it 
        appears and inserting ``qualified noncitizen's'';
            (10) in section 402--
                    (A) in the header, by striking ``qualified aliens'' 
                and inserting ``qualified noncitizens''; and
                    (B) in subsection (a)(2)(L), by striking 
                ``qualified aliens'' and inserting ``qualified 
                noncitizens'';
            (11) in section 403, in the header, by striking ``qualified 
        aliens'' and inserting ``qualified noncitizens'';
            (12) in section 411, in the header, by striking ``qualified 
        aliens'' and inserting ``qualified noncitizens''; and
            (13) in section 412, in the header, by striking ``qualified 
        aliens'' and inserting ``qualified noncitizens''.
    (d) Access to Basic Services for Lawfully Residing Noncitizens.--
Section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the header, by striking ``Qualified Alien'' 
                and inserting ``Qualified Noncitizen'';
                    (B) by striking ``qualified alien'' and inserting 
                ``qualified noncitizen'';
                    (C) by striking ``alien'' and inserting 
                ``noncitizen'';
                    (D) by striking ``an alien'' and inserting ``a 
                noncitizen''; and
                    (E) by striking ``benefit'' and all that follows 
                through the period at the end of the subsection and 
                inserting ``benefit, is lawfully present in the United 
                States.'';
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the header, by striking ``Qualified Aliens'' 
                and inserting ``Qualified Noncitizens'';
                    (B) by striking ``; or'' at the end of paragraph 
                (3) and inserting ``;'';
                    (C) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (4) and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (D) by inserting after paragraph (4):
            ``(5) a noncitizen--
                    ``(A) in a category that was treated as lawfully 
                present for purposes of section 1101 of the Patient 
                Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 
                18001);
                    ``(B) who met the requirements of section 
                402(a)(2)(D) of the Personal Responsibility and Work 
                Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 
                1612(a)(2)(D)) on or before January 1, 2021;
                    ``(C) who is granted special immigrant juvenile 
                status as described by section 101(a)(27)(J) of the 
                Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1101(a)(27)(J));
                    ``(D) who has a pending, bona fide application for 
                nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(U) of the 
                Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C 
                1101(1)(15)(U));
                    ``(E) who was granted relief under the Deferred 
                Action for Childhood Arrivals program; or
                    ``(F) any other person who is not a citizen of the 
                United States but who resides in a State or territory 
                of the United States and is Federally authorized to be 
                present in the United States.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Noncitizen.--For the purposes of this title, the term 
`noncitizen' means any individual who is not a citizen of the United 
States.''.
    (e) Child Nutrition Programs.--Section 742 of the Personal 
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 
U.S.C. 1615) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the header by striking ``School Lunch and 
                Breakfast Programs'' and inserting ``Child Nutrition 
                Programs'';
                    (B) by striking ``the school lunch program'' and 
                inserting ``any program''; and
                    (C) by striking ``the school breakfast program 
                under section 4 of the'' and inserting ``any program 
                under''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``Nothing in this Act shall 
                prohibit or require a State to provide to an individual 
                who is not a citizen or a qualified alien, as defined 
                in section 431(b),'' and inserting ``A State shall not 
                deny''; and
                    (B) by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and inserting 
                ``paragraph (2) on the basis of an individual's 
                citizenship or immigration status''.
    (f) Exclusion of Medical Assistance Expenditures for Citizens of 
Freely Associated States.--Section 1108(h) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1308(h)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Expenditures'' and inserting:
            ``(1) Expenditures''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(2) With respect to eligibility for benefits for the 
        designated Federal program defined in paragraph (3)(C) 
        (relating to the Medicaid program), paragraph (1) shall not 
        apply to any individual who lawfully resides in 1 of the 50 
        States or the District of Columbia in accordance with the 
        Compacts of Free Association between the Government of the 
        United States and the Governments of the Federated States of 
        Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 
        Republic of Palau and shall not apply, at the option of the 
        Governor of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern 
        Mariana Islands, or American Samoa as communicated to the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services in writing, to any 
        individual who lawfully resides in the respective territory in 
        accordance with such Compacts.''.
    (g) Child Health Insurance Program.--Section 2107(e)(1) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397gg(e)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking subparagraph (O); and
            (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (P), (Q), (R), (S), (T), 
        and (U) as subparagraphs (O), (P), (Q), (R), (S), and (T).
    (h) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Supplemental food assistance program.--The Food and 
        Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended--
                    (A) in section 5--
                            (i) by striking subsection (i); and
                            (ii) by redesignating subsections (j) 
                        through (n) as subsection (i) through (m), 
                        respectively;
                    (B) in section 6--
                            (i) in subsection (f), by striking ``an 
                        alien lawfully admitted for permanent'' and all 
                        that follows through the end of the subsection 
                        and inserting ``a noncitizen lawfully present 
                        in the United States.''; and
                            (ii) in subsection (s)(2), by striking 
                        ``(m), and (n)'' and inserting ``and (m)''; and
                    (C) in section 11(e)(2)(B)(v)(II) by striking 
                ``aliens'' each place it appears and inserting 
                ``noncitizens''.
            (2) Medicaid.--Section 1903(v) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``admitted for'' 
                and all that follows through the end of the paragraph 
                and inserting ``present in the United States.''; and
                    (B) striking paragraph (4).
            (3) Housing assistance.--Section 214(a) of the Housing and 
        Community Development Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a(a)) is 
        amended by--
                    (A) redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as 
                paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and
                    (B) inserting after paragraph (5):
            ``(6) a qualified noncitizen as defined in section 431 of 
        the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 
        Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641);''.
            (4) General rule on noncitizens' eligibility.--Section 401 
        of Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 
        Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611) is amended--
                    (A) in section 401, in the header--
                            (i) by striking ``qualified aliens'' and 
                        inserting ``qualified noncitizens''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``aliens'' and inserting 
                        ``noncitizens'';
                    (B) by striking ``qualified alien'' wherever it 
                occurs and inserting ``qualified noncitizen''; and
                    (C) by striking ``alien'' wherever it occurs and 
                inserting ``noncitizen''.
            (5) Assistance not treated as debt absent fraud.--Section 
        213A(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended 
        by striking ``benefit,'' and inserting ``benefit by fraud,''.
    (i) Preserving Access to Health Care.--Section 36B(c)(1)(B) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(B) Special rule for certain individuals lawfully 
                present in the united states.--If--
                            ``(i) a taxpayer has a household income 
                        which is not greater than 100 percent of an 
                        amount equal to the poverty line for a family 
                        of the size involved,
                            ``(ii) the taxpayer is a non-citizen 
                        lawfully present in the United States,
                            ``(iii) the taxpayer is ineligible for 
                        minimum essential coverage under section 
                        5000A(f)(1)(A)(ii), and
                            ``(iv) under the Medicaid eligibility 
                        criteria for non-citizens in effect on December 
                        26, 2020, the taxpayer would be ineligible for 
                        such minimum essential coverage by reason of 
                        the taxpayer's immigration status,
                the taxpayer shall, for purposes of the credit under 
                this section, be treated as an applicable taxpayer with 
                a household income which is equal to 100 percent of the 
                poverty line for a family of the size involved.''.
    (j) Federal Agency Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, each Federal agency, as applicable, 
shall issue guidance with respect to implementing the amendments made 
by this Act.
    (k) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply to services 
furnished on or after the date that is 180 days after the date on which 
any guidance is issued pursuant to subsection (i).
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