Immigration Reform: Verifying the Status of Aliens Applying for Federal Benefits.
Abstract
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 requires that the immigration status of all alien applicants for Unemployment Compensation, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Medicaid, Food Stamp, and certain housing and education assistance programs be verified with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Under some circumstances the responsible federal agency can waive the requirement. In seeking the act's passage, the Service told the Congress that verifying all aliens could save billions of dollars annually and was demonstrated in pilot projects under its Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlement (SAVE) program. Opponents of mandatory verification questioned the success of the projects and the reliability of the Service's alien data. The act requires that GAO review the projects' effectiveness, emplementation problems, and applicability to the verification methods envisioned by the act. GAO reviewed verification experiences in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas-states the act's legislative history said had pilot projects, and where over 75 percent of all undocumented aliens live.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA187962
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office