Effects of 1996 on Immigration and Immigrant Policy Reforms on Legal Permanent Residents

Abstract

Essentially, PRWORA [Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act] promised to decrease welfare spending by $55 billion over five years, limit welfare receipt to two years after which time recipients must work, establish a lifetime limit of five years on welfare, and allocate a lump-sum payment (block grant) to states to create state-based welfare programs. . . . While the Federal government continued to exercise its control over immigration policy, it passed onto State governments the responsibility of immigrant policy and shifted the expense of services that supported immigrant integration into society. This paper investigates how the policies, as perceived and modified in the 1996 welfare reform action, affected health care access and related issues of the next generation of immigrants to America. [From Introduction]