Given large federal budget deficits, the Congress has been targeting social welfare programs for cuts. In the Welfare Reform Bill, Congress drastically cut welfare to legal immigrants. Under the new legislation, immigrants over 65 years of age who have never worked in the US would not be entitled to welfare no matter how long they lived in the US.
聯邦赤字居高不下，美國國會於是想到拿沈重的社會福利開刀，通過了「福利改革法案」，大幅刪減社會救濟對合法移民的補助，新法案限制六十五歲以上的移民，如果沒有在美國工作過，無論居住多少年都不能領取生活補助金。