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Benefits For Legal Immigrants

Under the PRWORA, legal immigrants are treated differently than illegal immigrants and also differently than citizens. The restrictions on the benefit rights for legal immigrants have proven to be the most controversial aspects of the PRWORA, and several provisions have been reworked since it was passed in 1996. But the PRWORA still places restrictions on legal immigrants’ access to the same benefits as normal citizens.

Although the PRWORA cuts off legal immigrants from access to means tested programs involving federal funds, states are still allowed to set up their own programs using their own funds to cover immigrants who were cut off by the PRWORA. Many states have decided to do just that, so what kind of benefits immigrants are actually eligible for is determined by what state they reside in.


Inside Benefits For Legal Immigrants