Opinion ID: 2248973
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: IRCA SECTION 201(h)(1)

Text: The starting point in every case involving construction of a statute is the language itself. ( Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores (1975), 421 U.S. 723, 756, 95 S.Ct. 1917, 1935, 44 L.Ed.2d 539, 561 (Powell, J., concurring, joined by Stewart and Marshall, JJ.).) In section 201(h)(1) of IRCA Congress temporarily excluded amnesty claimants from receiving certain Federal and State public welfare assistance. Section 201(h)(1) states: (h) Temporary disqualification of newly legalized aliens from receiving certain public welfare assistance (1) In general During the five-year period beginning on the date an alien was granted lawful temporary resident status    and not withstanding any other provision of law    (A)   the alien is not eligible for (i) any program of financial assistance furnished under Federal law    on the basis of financial need, as such programs are identified by the Attorney General    (but in any event including the program of aid to families with dependent children   ), (ii) medical assistance under a State plan approved under title XIX of the Social Security Act [citation], and (iii) assistance under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 [citation].       Unless otherwise specifically provided by this section or other law, an alien in temporary lawful residence status granted under [IRCA] shall not be considered (for purposes of any law of a State or political subdivision providing for a program of financial assistance) to be permanently residing in the United States under color of law. 8 U.S.C. § 1255a(h)(1) (1988). Castillo and Jimenez argue that section 201(h)(1) confirms their PRUCOL status by inference. They argue as follows. Because unemployment benefits are furnished under a program conceived and partially administered by the Federal government, section 201(h)(1) addresses unemployment insurance as a program of financial assistance furnished under Federal law, and not as a program of financial assistance provided by a law of a State. Next, they note that neither Congress nor the Attorney General has designated the unemployment insurance program as one of the Federal programs in which aliens legalized under IRCA are precluded from participating. (See 20 C.F.R. § 245a.5 (1991).) They argue that unlike those programs specifically denied to aliens by section 201(h)(1), unemployment benefits are not furnished on the basis of financial need. In contrast to those programs listed either in section 201(h)(1) or by the Attorney General, unemployment benefits are paid from a program that works like private insurance. Eligible claimants receive payments regardless of income. Castillo and Jimenez make the argument that Congress included section 201(h)(1) in IRCA precisely because it realized that IRCA's passage conferred PRUCOL status upon aliens like them and that, without section 201(h)(1), IRCA-legalized aliens would be eligible to receive a wide host of generous government benefits which Congress meant to initially withhold, unemployment insurance benefits being a conspicuous exception. We cannot agree with Castillo and Jimenez that section 201(h)(1) confirms their PRUCOL status. To be sure, the parties have treated unemployment as a program of financial assistance furnished under Federal law. The Department has specifically conceded that unemployment compensation benefits are not within the scope of section 201(h)(1). The Department has cited to section 201(h)(1) as instructive only in order to counter Castillo and Jimenez's argument that section 201(h) grants them PRUCOL status by inference. The Labor Department, too, has avoided relying upon section 201(h)(1) in its regulations which deny PRUCOL status to IRCA legalized aliens. Unemployment Insurance Program Letter No. 1-86, Change 1 (Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Feb. 16, 1989) (unpublished). But even if the last paragraph of section 201(h)(1) does not preclude Castillo and Jimenez from claiming PRUCOL status for benefits like unemployment insurance, we note that the focus of section 201(h)(1) is on the period of time after an alien receives lawful temporary resident status, not the time prior to this period. Further, section 201(h)(1) prohibits aliens from receiving government benefits for five years. Because section 201(h)(1) operates to deprive legalized aliens from receiving benefits for a fixed period of time after lawful temporary resident status is granted, a potential effect of the statute is to deny benefits for a period of time even after an alien's status is adjusted to lawful permanent resident. We think the only intent Congress evidenced by enacting section 201(h)(1) was to restrict, rather than expand, the class of people who are eligible for government assistance. While unemployment benefits may not be denied to Castillo and Jimenez by operation of section 201(h)(1), we cannot agree that this section confirms their PRUCOL status.