Jayapal, Menendez Introduce Bill to Eliminate Xenophobic Barriers to Healthcare, Nutrition Assistance, and Other Support Programs for Lawful Immigrants

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Rob Menendez (NJ-08) led 99 lawmakers today in introducing the Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration (LIFT the BAR) Act, which would remove unnecessary barriers and restore eligibility to federal public benefits for lawfully present immigrants. 

Under this legislation, Green Card holders, DACA recipients, and other immigrants with legal status would no longer be subject to five-year waiting periods to access Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, programs in part funded by their tax dollars. In addition, the bill would repeal eligibility restrictions that Republicans passed in their Big Bad Betrayal bill, which deny food assistance and health coverage to people with legal status, including Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients, DACA recipients, and others.

“For too long, Republicans have painted immigrants as the boogeyman while they actively pass legislation to undermine healthcare and nutrition assistance for everyone. It’s not immigrants cutting your healthcare, its Republican lawmakers,” said Jayapal. “Today, our legislation works to end Republicans’ xenophobic crusade by reversing the arbitrary barriers that make it harder for lawfully present immigrants to use federal support programs, which they pay into through their tax dollars.”

“Immigrant families in New Jersey and across the country are integral to our communities, our workforce, and our economy, and it’s unacceptable to lock them out of the benefits they help fund,” said Congressman Rob Menendez. “I’m proud to join Rep. Jayapal in co-leading this effort to reverse the Trump Administration’s extreme anti-immigrant restrictions and remove arbitrary barriers to assistance that helps immigrants support their communities and families and access the American Dream.”

Republicans’ “Big Bad Betrayal Bill,” H.R. 1, cut nearly $1 trillion from healthcare and $200 billion from nutrition assistance. Under the guise of “protecting” federal programs and to distract from these cuts, Republicans prohibited lawfully present immigrants from receiving certain federal benefits, including Medicaid and SNAP. This created additional restrictions on top of a 1996 law that established an arbitrary five-year waiting period for immigrants with legal status to access critical federal healthcare and nutrition assistance programs. As a result of these xenophobic policies, countless lawfully present immigrants who have been vetted by the federal government and granted legal status cannot receive the support they need, including an estimated 105,000 children. 

The LIFT the BAR Act would change this by:

• Restoring access to federal public benefits for lawfully present immigrants, including people with Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status, DACA recipients, individuals granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), and other federally authorized non-citizens residing in the United States.
• Restore eligibility for food assistance and health coverage stripped in the Big Bad Betrayal bill;
• Eliminating the five-year bar for Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, TANF, and the SSI program.
• Removing arbitrary barriers by ensuring that immigrants with sponsors have access to services based on the income and resources that are actually available to them, removing state authority to impose additional restrictions on qualified immigrants, and restoring flexibility for states and localities to provide benefits to immigrants with their own funds; and
• Restore flexibility for states and localities to provide benefits to immigrants with their own funds.

“All children and their families, regardless of where they were born, deserve access to the supports they need to thrive, including health care and food assistance. The LIFT the BAR Act restores that access for lawfully present immigrants, including those who were wrongfully and cruelly excluded from coverage due to last year’s budget reconciliation bill. We know that children and families–and the communities where they live–flourish when they can meet their basic needs,” said Wendy Chun-Hoon, President and Executive Director for the Center for Law and Social Policy. “CLASP is grateful to Representatives Jayapal and Menendez who are true champions of children and families by ensuring that access to basic needs are more equitable and reach those who need them.”

“Everyone in the United States should be able to put food on the table, visit the doctor, and have a roof over our heads, regardless of immigration status,” said Kica Matos, President of the National Immigration Law Center. “But now, because of intentional government policies and the 2025 reconciliation bill, hundreds of thousands of green card holders, refugees, trafficking survivors, and others have lost access to basic supports and have no pathway to affordable health care. Removing cruel restrictions on public programs would correct an injustice and represent an important step toward ensuring all of us have the freedom to thrive. We thank Reps. Jayapal and Menendez for their leadership in introducing LIFT the BAR Act, and we call on Congress to swiftly pass this commonsense bill.”  

“Americans overwhelmingly want lawfully present immigrants to be able to get the care and help they need. The LIFT the BAR Act delivers what the American people want and reverses a fundamental injustice in health and social services policy,” said Maddie Geschu, Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition Director of Policy and Advocacy. “We thank Rep. Jayapal for her leadership in advancing this important legislation. Last year’s partisan budget bill is already doing damage to families and communities across the country. We urge Congress to act quickly to reverse these dangerous restrictions and restore access to basic needs programs.”

The LIFT the BAR is co-sponsored by Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12), Gabe Amo (RI-01), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Becca Balint (VT-At-Large), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Wesley Bell (MO-01), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), André Carson (IN-07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sean Casten (IL-06), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Steve Cohen (TN-09), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Jason Crow (CO-06), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Summer Lee (PA-12), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Doris Matsui (CA-07), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Analilia Mejia (NJ-11), Christian Menefee (TX-18), Grace Meng (NY-06), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Adam Smith (WA-09), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Mark Takano (CA-39), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul D. Tonko (NY-20), Norma Torres (CA-35), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), James Walkinshaw (VA-11), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), and Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24).

The legislation is also endorsed by over 140 organizations, including AFT; Alianza Nacional de Campesinas; Alliance to End Hunger; American Academy of Pediatrics; American Friends Service Committee; Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC; Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF); ASISTA Immigration Assistance; Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO); Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP); Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network; Bend the Arc: Jewish Action; Care in Action; Caring Across Generations; Caring Ambassadors Program; Center for Gender & Refugee Studies; Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law; Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP); Center for Science in the Public Interest; Center for the Study of Social Policy; Children’s Defense Fund; Children’s HealthWatch; Church World Service; Coalition on Human Needs; Common Threads; Community Catalyst; Community Change Action; Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund; Families USA; First Focus Campaign For Children; Food Research & Action Center (FRAC); Freedom Network USA; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR); Health Care For America Now (HCAN); Immigration Equality Action Fund; International Rescue Committee; Justice for Migrant Women; Justice in Aging; Justice in Motion; Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA); League of United Latin American Citizens; MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger; Muslim Advocates; National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum; National Association of Social Workers; National Center for Youth Law; National Council of Jewish Women; National Domestic Workers Alliance; National Education Association; National Health Care for the Homeless Council; National Health Law Program; National Immigration Law Center; National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice; National Low Income Housing Coalition; National Network To End Domestic Violence; National Partnership for New Americans; National WIC Association; Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies; Oxfam America; People Power United; People’s Action Institute; Physicians for Reproductive Health; Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Prevention Institute; Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK); Refugee Congress; Reproductive Freedom For All; RESULTS; Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC); Stop AAPI Hate; Tahirih Justice Center; The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis; UnidosUS; Union for Reform Judaism; Unitarian Universalist Service Committee; Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice; United Parent Leaders Action Network; We are CASA; Anne Arundel County Food Bank, Inc.; Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition; Asian Counseling and Referral Service; Binational Institute of Human Development; Boston Medical Center Health System; CCWRO; Children’s Defense Fund-Texas; Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC); Church Women United in New York State; Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA); Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights; Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals; County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA); East Bay Sanctuary Covenant; Every Texan; Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project; For All Families Oregon; Glide Foundation; Greater Chicago Food Depository; GROW Initiative GA; Hawaii Children’s Action Network Speaks!; Healthy Illinois Campaign; Her Justice; Hunger Free Colorado; Hunger Free Vermont; Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Latino Community Fund Georgia (LCF Georgia); Latino Texas Policy Center; Legal Council for Health Justice; Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice; Majdal: Arab Community Center of San Diego; Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association ; Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition; Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc.; Michigan Immigrant Rights Center; Michigan League for Public Policy; Michigan’s Children; Minnesota Parents United ; Mutual Aid Worcester; National Health Law Program; New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning; New York Immigration Coalition; North East Medical Services (NEMS); Northwest Immigrant Rights Project; Nourish California; Oasis Legal Services; Oklahoma Policy Institute; OneAmerica; Our Children Oregon; Parable of the Sower Intentional Community Cooperative ; Parent Engagement Academy ; Praxis Health Empowerment; Public Interest Law Project; Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center; Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County; Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN); Serving at risk families everywhere, Inc.; St. Matthew Trinity Lunchtime Ministry; The Children’s Partnership; The Door; The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health; United African Organization; Voices for Utah Children; Washington State Budget and Policy Center.

Issues: Health Care, Immigration