The JCPA welcomed action in the second session of the 105th Congress restoring food stamp benefits to some refugees, asylees, and immigrants who lost those benefits with passage of the 1996 welfare law. We support additional food stamp restorations for those immigrants still denied. Restorations helped some 30 percent of the estimated 900,000 who lost eligibility. The majority of individuals still denied food stamps are adult legal immigrants neither elderly nor disabled, but most often working parents in families with children. While their children may now receive benefits, their own ineligibility means an impoverished immigrant family may be forced to manage on only those food stamps available to the children. The JCPA will also support initiatives to expand eligibility for SSI, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for legal immigrants who entered the country after the welfare law's enactment.

Efforts to impede the naturalization process through restrictive legislation failed in the 105th Congress, and funds were finally released to enable the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to begin needed improvements in the processing of citizenship applications. Initiatives to restructure and/or dismantle the INS also dissipated although the issue of restructuring will return in the 106th Congress. Naturalization remains the key to full participation in all facets of American life. In the months ahead, the JCPA will work in coalitions to ensure an open, fair and timely

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naturalization process that reduces the application backlog without impeding access to those legitimately seeking to naturalize, or further restricting eligibility for citizenship. The JCPA welcomed extension for another year of the Lautenberg Amendment, which identifies certain groups, including Jews from the former Soviet Union, as deserving special consideration in refugee processing, based on a history of persecution. In light of current instability and deteriorating conditions in the former Soviet Union, we support a further extension of this law, now set to expire in September 1999. Moreover, the JCPA supports a higher ceiling on refugee admissions, to at least 100,000 per year. This includes increased numbers from the African continent, where refugee needs exceed even the more generous admissions levels established for fiscal year 1999. The JCPA also supports improved case identification and processing infrastructure to enable the U.S. to fulfill its appropriate role in responding to worldwide refugee needs.

Meanwhile, recent changes in immigration law have threatened to undermine due process protections for legal immigrants and asylum-seekers, particularly with regard to expedited removal-a provision of the law which allows immigration officers to order applicants for admission summarily removed without appeal to an immigration judge. The JCPA supports and will work to restore these due process protections.