Benefit Restoration: The Welfare Reform law of 1996 cut many of the benefits that could be used by legal immigrants and refugees, including
Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, food stamps and Supplemental Security Income.
While some of these have been restored, they are only available for seven years.
The MJC supports restoring these services for legal immigrants and refugees as
long as they are necessary.
INS Backlog Reduction and INS Reform: The Immigration and Naturalization Service faces chronic delays in naturalizing those who have applied for citizenship.
The MJC supports initiatives to expedite the naturalization process.
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility
Act: This 1996 law curtails due process for immigrants. The MJC supports repealing a portion in the law that allows misdemeanors to be reclassified as felonies for the purpose of deportation.
Individual Retirement Account Rollover:
The MJC supports legislation that would allow assets from Individual Retirement
Accounts to be directly contributed to charities on a tax-free basis.
Nonitemizer Deduction: The MJC supports
proposed legislation that would allow donors who do not itemize their deductions
on their income tax return, to receive a deduction specifically for
contributions to charities.
The MJC has many concerns about President Bush's Faith-Based
Initiative. (See
Separation of Church and State, Charitable Choice for additional
information.)
Jewish Conference
