Posted on 04/20/2007 1:40:10 PM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007
Mayor Giuliani took his advocacy for immigrants to Congress yesterday, trying to derail the planned August cut-off of federal welfare benefits to legal immigrants including more than 135,000 in New York City.
He said the abrupt end of food stamps and Supplemental Security Income payments would inflict severe and unfair hardships on legal immigrants and impose financial pain on cities like New York that will be forced to step in and help those who lose aid.
The cut-off was a key provision of the sweeping federal welfare reform approved last summer. Some immigrants will begin losing their benefits in June, with all benefits to be halted by Aug. 22.
"All of these people would [lose assistance] all at once, not phased in, not done in some kind of sensible way in which citizens and states could assess, 'How do we replace these benefits?' " Giuliani said.
The mayor said 135,000 legal immigrants receive SSI in the city, most of them elderly or disabled, and that 70,000 immigrants draw food stamps. He estimated it would cost the city nearly $ 400 million a year to keep the benefits.
In meetings with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, Giuliani urged that such immigrants be "grandfathered" into the welfare system. That would mean the cut-off would apply only to immigrants who entered the U.S. after the bill was passed.
At a minimum, Giuliani urged Congress to delay the cut-off.
Sentiment in Congress has been strong in favor of keeping the cuts, and it was not clear whether Giuliani's lobbying would have major impact.
But the trip gave the reelection-seeking mayor another opportunity to highlight his advocacy for immigrants a role that has allowed Giuliani to soften his image and court U.S. newcomers who may provide crucial votes in November.
While in Washington, Giuliani delivered the keynote speech at the annual conference of the Staten Island-based Center for Migration Studies and picked up its 1997 award for immigration and refugee policy.
Immigrant-aid groups agreed with Giuliani that the cut-off date must be averted.
"Many of these people are in nursing homes. . . . Without SSI they would be thrown out into the cold," said Peter Fiumefreddo of the Bronx-based Federation or European American Rights.
But Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform said Giuliani "talks about how great immigrants are for New York City, but then turns around and wants everybody else to pay the costs."
1) Go to UAB online library.
2) Click on database icon (magnifying glass)
3) Click on "L"
4) Scroll down. Click "LexisNexis News"
5) Switch to "Guided News Search."
6) Input the following into the fields:
Step One: General News
Step Two: Major Papers
Step Three: RUDY'S WELFARE PLEA
Step Four: From 1996 to 1997
Click Search.
7) The article should pop up.
Okay.
So Rudy had no problem not cutting welfare if it affected immigrants...and I have no doubt, considering his sanctuary city policy, that many of them might have been illegals.
“Rudy fought to keep welfare for immigrants” ping.
Were they illegals? You be the judge.
>impose financial pain on cities like New York
There you go.
Rudy Giuliani, fiscal conservative.
Unless it's federal tax dollars, and then you'd better keep sloppin' the hawgs...
Then cut off the welfare. For a guy who’s been touted as pulling people off of welfare and putting them into the job market, you could understand why this might look a bit contradictory.
Haven’t you heard? 911 changed Rudy. He became a conservative weeks ago! :-)
But demanded the fedgov keep immigrants on welfare?
Boy, that's gonna sell really well as Rudy moves leftwards to replace the votes he won't get from socons...
Ah, so Rudy didn't care about my financial pain paying welfare to immigrants. Gotcha.
>Ah, so Rudy didn’t care about my financial pain paying welfare to immigrants.
You got it!
Another reason Rudy won’t win...
E-X-T-R-A-C-T illegals! Don’t send them my money.
Legal or illegal (I know, you need a scorecard or thesauraus when deciphering such articles) the article is a good argument for the proposition that we should seek & allow entry to new citizens who contribute to our society, rather than become public charges.
I know it’s a novel argument: that we give immigration preference to youngsters, at least high school grads with job skills and no criminal records, rather than unemployable, ailing undesirables, then their families.
I’m just sayin’ . . .
Freepmail me to be added or removed from this ping list.
Rudy is pro illegal immigration all the way!!
Related and all in Rooty’s own words. Rooty proves once and for all that he is to the LEFT of Clinton!
“There has been a lot of anger, confusion and distortion about immigration. But most Americans, with their basic sense of fairness, will be able to see the unfair and possibly unconstitutional way that immigrants are being treated by the welfare and anti-immigration bills.
” “Executive Order 124” protects undocumented immigrants in New York City from being reported to the I.N.S. While they are using City services that are critical for their health and safety, and for the health and safety of the entire city.
“ Similarly, illegal and undocumented immigrants should be able to seek medical help without the threat of being reported..
“The federal government’s effort to overturn “Executive Order 124” is not only bad policy, it is a violation of the U.S. Constitution. It is my opinion that the new law is unfair because discriminates based on immigration status.
Much much more at link.
http://www.ibisnetwork.com/giuliani/text/immkenn.html
Flashbunny, at the rate that Rudy is spouting stupidity, you’re going to run out of hard drive space making RINO cards. :)
sorry....
while people can cherry pick all they want as a life long NYer I can tell you Guiliani did more to get generations of people off welfare rolls and forced them into workfare more then anyone else could’ve in this city....he also got attacked for doing it...
Oh, I know.
My question is, why not do the same for immigrants?
Thanks for the ping.
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