Opinion ID: 164228
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Lower Courts

Text: 58 Neither Graham nor Mathews determines the result in this case. Unlike Graham, here we have specific Congressional authorization for the state's action, the PRWORA. Unlike Mathews, here we have a state-administered program, and the potential for states to adopt coverage restrictions with respect to aliens that are not mandated by federal law. 59 The fact of state administration in itself is not a distinction from Mathews that has impressed the circuits that have addressed the matter. Following Mathews, several circuits have applied rational-basis review to uphold federal statutes restricting state-administered welfare benefits to legal aliens. See, e.g., Lewis v. Thompson, 252 F.3d 567, 582 (2d Cir.2001) (upholding under rational-basis review PRWORA restrictions on alien eligibility for state-administered pre-natal Medicaid benefits); City of Chicago v. Shalala, 189 F.3d 598, 603-05 (7th Cir.1999) (same for supplemental security income (SSI) and food stamps); Aleman v. Glickman, 217 F.3d 1191, 1197 (9th Cir.2000) (same for food stamps); Rodriguez v. United States, 169 F.3d 1342, 1346-50 (11th Cir.1999) (same for SSI and food stamps). 60 The potential for states to adopt coverage restrictions for aliens that are not federally mandated is, however, more problematic. The difficulty is illustrated by opinions addressing non-mandated state restrictions—one each from the high courts of New York and Massachusetts. We discuss each in turn. 61 In Aliessa v. Novello, 96 N.Y.2d 418, 730 N.Y.S.2d 1, 754 N.E.2d 1085 (2001), the New York Court of Appeals reviewed state alien classifications that were authorized by the PRWORA. Relying on Graham, it concluded that the classification scheme must be subjected to strict scrutiny. New York's Medicaid system had two components—one was funded jointly by the state and federal governments, and one was solely state-funded. Id., 730 N.Y.S.2d 1, 754 N.E.2d at 1089. Aliessa reviewed only the state-funded portion of the program. Id., 730 N.Y.S.2d 1, 754 N.E.2d at 1089, n. 3. 62 As it does with regard to jointly funded Medicaid programs, the PRWORA gives states flexibility to grant or deny aliens state-only Medicaid, so long as they adhere to certain requirements. Id., 730 N.Y.S.2d 1, 754 N.E.2d at 1091. In response to the PRWORA, the New York legislature enacted a law that terminated state-only Medicaid coverage for many aliens. Id., 730 N.Y.S.2d 1, 754 N.E.2d at 1091-92. Aliens who lost coverage brought suit, arguing that the new state law violated the state constitution and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Id., 730 N.Y.S.2d 1, 754 N.E.2d at 1092. 63 The parties' equal protection arguments in Aliessa mirrored those of the parties in this case: the plaintiffs argued that the state law discriminated based on alienage and that strict scrutiny should apply, and the state argued that it was acting with Congress's permission and that rational-basis review was appropriate. The court agreed with the plaintiffs, concluding that strict scrutiny applied and that the state law could not withstand it. 64 The court relied on the language in Graham that a Federal statute authorizing `discriminatory treatment of aliens at the option of the States' would present `serious constitutional questions,' and that a congressional enactment construed so as to permit state legislatures to adopt divergent laws on the subject of citizenship requirements for federally supported welfare programs would appear to contravene [the] explicit constitutional requirement of uniformity. Id., 730 N.Y.S.2d 1, 754 N.E.2d at 1097 (quoting Graham, 403 U.S. at 382, 91 S.Ct. 1848) (emphasis in Aliessa ). The court reasoned: 65 [The federal statute] does not impose a uniform immigration rule for States to follow. Indeed, it expressly authorizes States to enact laws extending any State or local public benefit even to those aliens not lawfully present within the United States. The converse is also true and exacerbates the lack of uniformity: [the federal statute] provides that, subject to certain exceptions, States are authorized to withhold State Medicaid from even those qualified aliens who are eligible for Federal Medicaid under PRWORA. Thus, in administering their own programs, the States are free to discriminate in either direction—producing not uniformity, but potentially wide variation based on localized or idiosyncratic concepts of largesse, economics and politics. Considering that Congress has conferred upon the States such broad discretionary power to grant or deny aliens State Medicaid, we are unable to conclude that [the federal law] reflects a uniform national policy. If the rule were uniform, each State would carry out the same policy under the mandate of Congress—the only body with authority to set immigration policy. 66 ... New York—along with every other State—with Congressional permission is choosing its own policy with respect to health benefits for resident, indigent legal aliens. Thus, we address this case outside the context of a Congressional command for nationwide uniformity in the scope of Medicaid coverage for indigent aliens as a matter of federal immigration policy. 67 Id., 730 N.Y.S.2d 1, 754 N.E.2d at 1098 (internal citations omitted). The New York court concluded that strict scrutiny was the appropriate standard by which to assess the New York statute, and held that the statute failed the test. It wrote: 68 We conclude that [the state law] is subject to ... strict scrutiny, notwithstanding [the federal statute's] authorization.... [The federal law] is directly in the teeth of Graham insofar as it allows the States to adopt divergent laws on the subject of citizenship requirements for federally supported welfare programs. Moreover, [the federal statute] goes significantly beyond what the Graham Court declared constitutionally questionable. In the name of national immigration policy, it impermissibly authorizes each State to decide whether to disqualify many otherwise eligible aliens from State Medicaid. [The New York statute] is a product of this authorization. In light of Graham and its progeny, [the federal statute] can give [the New York statute] no special insulation from strict scrutiny review. Thus, [the New York statute] must be evaluated as any other State statute that classifies based on alienage. 69 Id., 730 N.Y.S.2d 1, 754 N.E.2d at 1098 (footnotes and internal citations omitted); see Kurti v. Maricopa Cty., 201 Ariz. 165, 33 P.3d 499, 505 (App.2001) (applying strict scrutiny to optional coverage of aliens for public health benefits). 70 The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court addressed similar issues in Doe v. Comm'r of Transitional Assistance, 437 Mass. 521, 773 N.E.2d 404 (2002), but reached a different result. It concluded that state-made intra-alien classifications are subject only to rational-basis review. Doe involved a state-only supplemental-benefits program that was enacted to provide coverage to certain aliens who, based on the PRWORA, were going to lose the joint state-federal benefits they had previously received. Id. at 407. But the benefits provided by the supplemental program were restricted to aliens who had resided in Massachusetts for at least six months. Id. at 407-08. 71 The plaintiffs in Doe argued that the six-month residency requirement violated the Equal Protection Clause because it imposed the requirement on some legal aliens, but not on other legal aliens and citizens. Here again, the dispute hinged on whether strict scrutiny or rational-basis review applied. 72 The court first emphasized that the benefits provided by the program went only to aliens (not citizens), meaning that the six-month residency requirement did not discriminate between citizens and aliens, but rather only amongst aliens. Then, after reviewing Graham, Mathews, and other relevant law, the court turned to the standard of review: 73 We conclude that the appropriate standard of review in these circumstances depends on the nature of the classification that creates the distinction between subgroups of aliens. If that classification were a suspect one such as race, gender, or national origin, we would apply a strict scrutiny analysis. Where, as here, that classification is Massachusetts residency, the proper standard of review is rational basis. We reach this conclusion because we find that the operative classification for equal protection purposes in the setting of this case is not alienage, but residency. 74 Id. at 414 (internal citation omitted). (We note, however, that the court may have applied rational-basis review only because it viewed the distinction between aliens and citizens under the Massachusetts statute as not invidious to aliens. The court wrote: 75 In concluding that a rational basis standard of review applies, we have also considered the context in which the supplemental program was enacted; its purpose and the clearly noninvidious intent behind its promulgation; the effect of its implementation on mitigating the harm to qualified alien families that might otherwise be without substantial assistance for five years under the requirements of the welfare reform act; and the potential harm to those same families if the Legislature could only choose to create an all-or-nothing program as a remedy to their disqualification from federally funded programs. Id. )