Opinion ID: 765903
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application of the Rational Basis Test

Text: 19 We turn now to the application of the rational basis test. The Supreme Court has admonished that rational-basis review in equal protection analysis 'is not a license for courts to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic of legislative choices.' Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312, 319 (1993) (quoting FCC v. Beach Communications, Inc., 508 U.S. 307, 313 (1993)). Rather, a statute survives rational basis scrutiny if there is a rational relationship between the disparity of treatment and some legitimate governmental purpose. Id. at 320. Moreover, under rational basis review, Congress need not actually articulate the legitimate purpose or rationale that supports the classification at issue. Instead, a statute must be upheld against equal protection challenge if there is any reasonably conceivable state of facts that could provide a rational basis for the classification. Id. (quoting Beach Communications, 508 U.S. at 313) (internal quotation marks omitted). We are required, under the rational basis standard, to accept a legislature's generalizations even when there is an imperfect fit between means and ends. A classification does not fail rational-basis review because it 'is not made with mathematical nicety or because in practice it results in some inequality.' Id. at 321 (quoting Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 485 (1970) (quoting Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co., 220 U.S. 61, 78 (1911))) (internal quotation marks omitted). 20 The policy objectives that Congress hoped to achieve through the enactment of the Welfare Reform Act are set forth in 8 U.S.C. sec. 1601. 13 First, Congress stated that the Act's provisions are intended to foster the legitimate governmental purpose of encouraging aliens' self- sufficiency. It is Congress' stated policy that aliens within the Nation's borders not depend on public resources to meet their needs, but rather rely on their own capabilities and the resources of their families, their sponsors, and private organizations. 8 U.S.C. sec. 1601(2)(A). The plaintiffs submit that, because federal immigration policy already prohibits the immigration of those who are likely to become public charges, the benefits at issue in this case serve only as a safety net. Therefore, they contend, it is irrational to remove this safety net in an effort to encourage aliens to be more reliant on their families, sponsors, and private organizations because it is precisely those aliens who are unable to rely on such alternate sources of support who need the benefits in the first place. Moreover, they argue, removing welfare benefits from aliens who are elderly, disabled, or children will not help them become self-reliant because they are simply unable to work. 21 Whatever the merits of this criticism of the Welfare Reform Act, as a matter of public policy, we cannot say that the statute is rendered irrational simply because some aliens who are unable to work will not be induced to provide for themselves. In Congress' view, such aliens ought to rely on their families, sponsors, or private organizations for support, rather than on the public welfare rolls. The statute is reasonably related to that goal. Indeed, even if some aliens have no access to support from these alternate sources, the citizenship requirement is still rationally related to the goal of encouraging aliens to rely on private, not public, resources to meet their needs. See Heller, 509 U.S. at 321 (noting that rational basis review requires courts to accept a legislature's generalizations even when there is an imperfect fit between means and ends); Zehner v. Trigg, 133 F.3d 459, 463 (7th Cir. 1997) ([T]he classification need not be the most narrowly tailored means available to achieve the desired end.); see also Kiev, 991 F. Supp. at 1099-1100; Abreu v. Callahan, 971 F. Supp. 799, 818 (S.D.N.Y. 1997). 22 Congress has stated its policy that the availability of public benefits not constitute an incentive for immigration to the United States. 8 U.S.C. sec. 1601(2)(B). Although reasonable individuals certainly can disagree on the wisdom of controlling immigration through such a policy, we must conclude that the provisions of the Welfare Reform Act are rationally related to the legitimate governmental goal of discouraging immigration that is motivated by the availability of welfare benefits. In reference to state welfare benefits, the Supreme Court has acknowledged that [a]lien residency requirements for welfare benefits necessarily operate . . . to discourage entry into or continued residency in the State. Richardson, 403 U.S. at 379. We cannot say, therefore, that it was irrational for Congress to conclude that removal of federal welfare benefits would have a similar deterrent effect on immigration into the United States. The plaintiffs submit that there is no rational connection between withdrawing benefits from legal resident aliens who were already in the United States when the Act was enacted and the goal of deterring future immigrants from coming here to reap welfare benefits. Although the Act may be overinclusive in this respect, again, rational basis scrutiny does not require a perfect fit. We therefore are constrained to hold that there is a rational relationship between the Welfare Reform Act's restriction of aliens' eligibility for welfare benefits and the legitimate governmental goal of deterring immigration that is motivated by the availability of those benefits. 23 Section 1602 also declares that Congress wanted to preserve the public fisc by reducing the rising costs of operating federal benefits programs. The plaintiffs suggest, however, that the distinction between citizens and noncitizens is no more rationally related to the general goal of saving money than would be a distinction between brown-eyed people and all other people; disqualifying any subset of eligible people will save money. But again, we cannot say that it was irrational for Congress to decide to achieve its budget objectives by eliminating aliens from these programs. 14 In effectuating the governmental goal of cost savings, Congress had to start somewhere and must be allowed leeway to approach a perceived problem incrementally. Beach Communications, 508 U.S. at 316. Moreover, Congress was entitled to conclude that achieving savings by eliminating these benefits to aliens was sufficiently compatible with the other policy objectives that it sought to foster through this legislation. 24 The Executive Branch, defending the constitutionality of the statute before this court, offers a further justification not found in Congress' statement of policy. It submits that the Act's provisions are rationally related to the legitimate governmental purpose of encouraging naturalization. The Act gives resident aliens in need of welfare benefits a strong economic incentive to become naturalized citizens. The plaintiffs again argue overinclusiveness, contending that the statute removes from eligibility certain aliens who cannot seek naturalization, such as elderly or disabled aliens who cannot demonstrate language proficiency or an understanding of United States history and government. The plaintiffs further submit that it is irrational to use the threat of starvation and homelessness to goad people into naturalization. Again, whatever the merits of these arguments in the public policy arena, we cannot accept them as a basis for rendering the statute unconstitutional. This court and other courts of appeals have recognized the legitimacy of this governmental interest in encouraging naturalization. See, e.g., Campos v. FCC, 650 F.2d 890, 894 (7th Cir. 1981); Mow Sun Wong v. Campbell, 626 F.2d 739, 745 (9th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 959 (1981). The Supreme Court assumed in Hampton v. Mow Sun Wong, 426 U.S. 88 (1976), that the national interest in providing an incentive for aliens to become naturalized would justify a citizenship requirement for federal civil service employment. Id. at 105. We cannot say, therefore, that it would be irrational for Congress to conclude that restricting the availability of welfare benefits to aliens would provide incentive for aliens to seek naturalization. See Kiev, 991 F. Supp. at 1100; Abreu, 971 F. Supp. at 817-18. As we have already mentioned, rational basis scrutiny does not require a perfect fit between this legitimate governmental purpose and the means chosen to achieve it. 25 The plaintiffs submit finally that the Act fails rational basis review because it was motivated by impermissible animus toward noncitizens. We disagree. As the Supreme Court made clear in Diaz, it is obvious that Congress has no constitutional duty to provide all aliens with the welfare benefits provided to citizens. Diaz, 426 U.S. at 82. In the exercise of its broad power over naturalization and immigration, Congress regularly makes rules that would be unacceptable if applied to citizens. . . . The fact that an Act of Congress treats aliens differently from citizens does not in itself imply that such disparate treatment is 'invidious.' Id. at 79-80. In light of the various rationales discussed above, we cannot say that the Welfare Reform Act is inexplicable by anything but animus toward the class that it affects. Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620, 632 (1996). 26 Finally, we note that the Welfare Reform Act also contains a number of exceptions to its general exclusion of aliens from the welfare programs. Like the situation that confronted the Supreme Court in Diaz, therefore, we have a statutory scheme that, strictly speaking, distinguishes not between citizens and aliens but rather among subclasses within the alien population. See Diaz, 426 U.S. at 80. Nevertheless, we do not believe that the exceptions carved out by Congress from its general prohibition against benefits to aliens, detracts from the rationality of the overall statutory scheme. Although Congress did not articulate a reason for each of these exceptions, we must accept Congress' determination because we can discern a rational relationship between the disparity of treatment and some legitimate governmental purpose. Heller, 509 U.S. at 320. As the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit explained in Rodriguez v. United States, 169 F.3d 1342 (11th Cir. 1999), several of the exceptions extend benefits to aliens who have made special contributions to this Country. 15 It certainly is not irrational for Congress to reward such service or to encourage other aliens to make similar contributions in the future. Five of the other exceptions ensure benefits to individuals who have sought refuge in this Country because of especially difficult conditions in their own countries. 16 Certainly, humanitarian concerns can constitute a rational basis for distinguishing among aliens. Although some might disagree with the distinctions Congress has made in this regard, such line-drawing is its prerogative, not the judiciary's. See Heller, 509 U.S. at 319. Nor was it irrational for Congress to have excluded from the general ban those already residing in the United States who have an affliction or a condition that makes them particularly vulnerable to poverty. 17 No doubt, there is some question whether Congress included within the excepted class all those who should have been included. Drawing such lines, however, is a legislative task for Congress. [D]ifferences between the eligible and the ineligible are differences in degree rather than differences in the character of their respective clams. Diaz, 426 U.S. at 83-84. The provision permitting the continuation of SSI benefits for those who are already receiving them and who appear to continue to meet the eligibility criteria is similarly not irrational; 18 Congress was entitled to weigh the cost of terminating such a program against the cost of continuation. Finally, members of Indian tribes have a unique historical relationship with the Federal Government, and therefore it certainly was not irrational for Congress to determine that it ought to continue to provide them benefits. 19