Maine’s top court has ruled that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services was wrong to deny food stamp benefits to asylum seekers who had yet to find work.
In a 13-page decision issued Tuesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of Euphrem Manirakiza, a Burundian immigrant who sued the suit after he applied for benefits in 2015 and was then denied.
Although Manirakiza was the lead plaintiff in the case, the decision could affect as many as 150 other asylum seekers.
The case hinged on language included in the 2014-15 biennial budget that provided funding for public assistance programs for asylees who have obtained proper work documents – a process that can take months or even years – but who have not yet found work.
The law court heard oral arguments in November from Amy Olfene, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, and Assistant Attorney General Thomas Quinn, representing DHHS.
Quinn argued that DHHS denied the plaintiff benefits because it believed the budget language ended the food stamp program for that subset of immigrants.
Olfene, however, said the budget did no such thing. She argued that it only specified that applicants would not be able to receive benefits once the appropriated money ran out.
The landmark federal welfare reform act of 1996 that shaped two major public assistance programs – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – prohibits certain categories of immigrants from obtaining those benefits.
Several states, including Maine, have passed laws that allow state funds to be used to provide food stamps or TANF to asylum seekers who are otherwise eligible for the programs.
The state statute that allows this outlines four categories of legal non-citizens: elderly or disabled; victims of domestic violence; those who have not yet obtained work documentation and those who have obtained work documentation but are unemployed.
Eric Russell can be contacted at 791-6344 or at:
Twitter: PPHEricRussell
Maine Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services was wrong to deny food stamp benefits to asylum seekers who had yet to find work. (Portland Press Herald file photo)
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