A longtime immigration activist explores what it means to be an undocumented American—revealing the ever-shifting nature of status in the U.S.—in this “impassioned and well-reported case for change (New York Times) In this illuminating work, immigrant rights activist Aviva Chomsky shows how “illegality” and “undocumentedness” are concepts that were created to exclude and exploit. With a focus on US policy, she probes how people, especially Mexican and Central Americans, have been assigned this status—and to what ends. Blending history with human drama, Chomsky explores what it means to be undocumented in a legal, social, economic, and historical context. The result is a powerful testament of the complex, contradictory, and ever-shifting nature of status in America.
Fed. law restricts noncitizens' access to public benefits, incl. Temporary Assist. for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assist. Program (SNAP), and Suppl. Security Income (SSI). Further, when noncitizens who legally reside in this country through sponsorship of a family member apply for these benefits, they are subject to sponsor ¿deeming¿, which requires benefit agencies to combine noncitizens' incomes with those of their sponsors to determine eligibility. This report analyzes: (1) what is known about the size of the non-citizen population potentially affected by the sponsor deeming requirements for TANF, Medicaid, SNAP, and SSI; (2) have agencies implemented sponsor deeming, and sponsor repay. Ill.