ILAP Public Comment: General Assistance Proposed Rule #26
Submitted via public comment portal: https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/about/rulemaking/general-assistance-proposed-rule-26-2024-11-06
RE: General Assistance Proposed Rule #26
Dear Ms. Denson,
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, (ILAP), respectfully submits the following comments regarding General Assistance Proposed Rule #26. We strongly support and applaud DHHS for promulgating the part of the rule requiring mandatory training for General Assistance administrators. As Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization, ILAP sees firsthand the serious and harmful impacts of inconsistent GA administration; GA administrators giving out improper and incorrect information affecting peoples’ immigration applications; erroneous denials stemming from a lack of understanding about what types of immigration paperwork noncitizen applicants have; personal bias of GA administrators; and more. Accordingly, our comments respectfully focus on recommended substance for GA administration trainings with the goal of ensuring that noncitizens in Maine have fair and equitable access to General Assistance, which can be the stepping stone that leads them towards long-term safety, stability, and the ability to make great contributions to our communities and state.
I. About ILAP and Interest in Proposed Changes:
ILAP is Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization, serving low-income people across the state who would otherwise not have access to immigration legal services. ILAP’s clients are predominantly people of color and include asylum seekers, immigrant children, farmworkers, survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, and other vulnerable noncitizen populations. Through our practice over the last 30 years and our longstanding community partnerships, ILAP has deep understanding and expertise in the intersection between immigration status and access to public benefits, including current issues around the administration of General Assistance.
II. Background on Harm to Immigrant Communities Stemming from Current General Assistance Administration:
Over the years, the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project has witnessed compounding harm to immigrant communities that can be traced to a lack of training for General Assistance administrators and staff. Specifically, General Assistance administrators often put pressure on newly arrived immigrant families to submit asylum applications as quickly as possible. Submitting an asylum application – or any other type of immigration application – is not a requirement to receive General Assistance, only that the applicant is “pursuing a lawful process to apply for immigration relief.”
Again, ILAP is Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization, and the only organization doing complex humanitarian immigration cases. The lack of immigration legal services capacity in Maine and the pressure that this misinformation from GA offices puts on noncitizen applicants frequently leads to them falling prey to fraudsters who pretend to be able to offer immigration legal assistance to steal the limited resources a newly arrived immigrant may have. Immigrants in need of GA may also turn to well-meaning community members or organizations that do not have immigration legal expertise but can still cause immense harm.
Both situations frequently lead to irreparably destroyed immigration cases, translating to vulnerable individuals and families being permanently barred from receiving humanitarian protection or status in the United States and being placed in deportation proceedings. Not only is the impact of this misinformation catastrophic to immigrant populations, it also impacts community and state resources as people are left without options to meet their basic needs on a long-term or permanent basis – a situation that could have been avoided if they had been advised to wait until they could work with a qualified immigration attorney.
III. ILAP’s Comments:
A. Comments on Section III, RESPONSIBILITIES:
ILAP strongly supports the addition of language section (A)(9): “Training. Municipal administrators shall complete mandatory training, provided by the Department” to address the issues described in the section above.
ILAP encourages DHHS to require training by all new GA municipal administrators and staff to be completed within 60 days, as opposed to the proposed 120 days. It is imperative for the safety and survival of impacted communities – and preserving the limited resources of both DHHS and nonprofit services providers – that administrators and other staff are trained as early as possible in their tenure. A potential four-month period where administrators and other staff are not trained could lead to vulnerable families being unable to meet basic needs, erroneous denials and resulting appeals to DHHS, permanent harm to immigration cases, draining nonprofit resources, and other consequences.
Accordingly, ILAP recommends the language in Section III, (A)(9) be updated to:
“Training. All municipal administrators and other staff serving the public at GA offices shall complete mandatory training, provided by the Department, no later than 60 days after appointment or election.”
B. Comments Section XIII, TRAINING:
In addition to requiring training, ILAP applauds DHHS for requiring training to include information on how to be “Trauma Informed and Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate.” ILAP also strongly supports the proposed language making DHHS responsible for designing and providing the training to GA administrators.
Key topics for DHHS to include in training for GA administrators and staff includes the following:
i. Context and instruction on harm done by incorrectly telling a noncitizen they must show they have submitted an asylum application or another immigration form to apply for GA:
GA administrators should be clear that “pursuing a lawful process to apply for immigration relief” does not mean the applicant must have submitted an application to a federal immigration agency. A GA administrator telling a noncitizen applicant for GA that they must show they have submitted an asylum or other immigration application to be eligible for benefits frequently results in noncitizens falling prey to fraudsters or otherwise turning to unqualified sources of legal assistance. The fall out can include permanently destroyed immigration cases that leave families unable to achieve stability and security and may lead to deportation and generational trauma and harm.
Importantly, GA administrators and staff should also be informed that telling someone to submit an asylum application could be considered immigration legal advice; it is against the law in Maine for someone who is not a qualified immigration attorney or accredited representative to offer immigration legal advice.
ii. Information and language on how to inform noncitizens that they should only work with qualified immigration legal attorneys:
GA administrators should be given specific information and guidance around how to communicate with noncitizen applicants that they should only work with a qualified immigration attorney on their immigration case. GA offices should provide in-language print resources and have posters conveying this important message.
iii. Instruction on how to show noncitizen GA applicants how to use the “Affidavit for those Pursuing Immigration Relief”:
The current process for a noncitizen applicant to receive GA includes submitting an affidavit showing that they are pursuing immigration relief. DHHS should carefully review the affidavit with GA administrators and other staff and ensure they understand the different situations and scenarios a person may be navigating while pursuing immigration relief. It is key that GA administrators understand that asylum is not the only status a person may be pursuing and that there are different types of immigration scenarios they may encounter.
GA administrators should carefully review the options on the affidavit for noncitizens pursuing immigration relief who are at the beginning of the process (for example looking for an attorney or gathering paperwork). GA administrators should be reminded of the limited immigration legal services capacity in Maine and that a letter from a lawyer helping with your case is an option on the affidavit but not mandatory. GA administrators sending applicants to ILAP to obtain a letter drains our limited resources and makes it even more challenging for people to access immigration legal services. Rather, noncitizens applicants should be informed of their right to self-attest by submitting an affidavit in lieu of obtaining letters from legal services organizations.
Finally, the affidavit must be printed and available in all the languages that noncitizens in Maine speak to meet culturally and linguistically appropriate standards. DHHS should also develop resources for noncitizens who do not read or write.
In the future, ILAP also recommends the affidavit be vastly simplified to lower obstacles for noncitizens in need of General Assistance.
C. Overview and instruction on different types of immigration paperwork:
GA administrators and other staff should receive an overview of the different types of immigration paperwork that may be submitted by a noncitizen in their GA application. A common issue ILAP sees is GA administrators believing everyone should have the same documentation and if a noncitizen does not have the specific documentation the administrator is familiar with, they are denied. Similarly, this instruction should include information about various types of immigration relief, and underscore that not all noncitizen applicants are seeking asylum.
iv. Protecting noncitizen information:
GA administrators should receive guidance on how to ensure that information about peoples’ immigration status is protected and only used by GA administrators and DHHS for purposes of public benefits administration.
D. Training related to providing trauma-informed and culturally and linguistically appropriate services:
Many of the noncitizen applicants that GA administrators are interacting with are newly arrived asylum seekers and others who have fled life-threatening conditions to find safety and security in the United States. Many experience tremendous fear interacting with any government officials, do not have an underlying understanding of the complex U.S. immigration system to be able to understand the GA affidavit, and are dealing with the stress of not having basic needs met and/or dealing with the trauma of having to flee their homes. In order to provide trauma informed and appropriate services, GA administrators should be trained on common experiences newly arrived and other noncitizens face, the challenges of trying to navigate multiple complex, unfamiliar bureaucratic systems, the impacts of trauma, how they can avoid retraumatizing or adding to the trauma applicants experience, and how to recognize and address their own biases.
Accordingly, ILAP recommends language in Section XIII, TRAINING (A)(1) also include: “The Department will ensure that all overseers and municipal officials have access to training, at no cost to the municipality. Training will cover:
An overview of the challenges newly-arrived and other noncitizen populations face in navigating the immigration system and meeting their basic needs;
An overview of the different types of immigration relief and immigration paperwork GA administrators may encounter;
Information about how to use the Affidavit for those Pursuing Immigration Relief;
Information and resources on how to advise applicants that they should only work with qualified immigration attorneys on their immigration cases and the harm of scams and the unauthorized practice of immigration law;
Information on how GA offices should be set up to protect applicants’ information, including immigration information; and
Information on understanding and being aware of personal bias and how to provide culturally appropriate, trauma-informed services.”
IV. Conclusion:
Thank you for your consideration of our comments. Please contact ILAP’s Policy Director, Lisa Parisio, at lparisio@ilapmaine.org for any questions or additional information.
Sincerely,
Susan Roche, Esq.
Executive Director
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project