Menendez and Jayapal Introduce Bill to Eliminate Barriers to Healthcare, Nutrition Assistance, and Other Support Programs for Lawful Immigrants

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Rob Menendez (NJ-08) and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) led 99 lawmakers today in introducing the Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration (LIFT the BAR) Act, which would remove unnecessary barriers and restore eligibility to federal public benefits for lawfully present immigrants.

"Immigrant families in New Jersey and across the country are integral to our communities, our workforce, and our economy, and it's unacceptable to lock them out of the benefits they help fund," said Congressman Menendez. "I'm proud to join Rep. Jayapal in co-leading this effort to reverse the Trump Administration's extreme anti-immigrant restrictions and remove arbitrary barriers to assistance that helps immigrants support their communities and families and access the American Dream."

"For too long, Republicans have painted immigrants as the boogeyman while they actively pass legislation to undermine healthcare and nutrition assistance for everyone. It's not immigrants cutting your healthcare, it's Republican lawmakers," said Congresswoman Jayapal. "Today, our legislation works to end Republicans' xenophobic crusade by reversing the arbitrary barriers that make it harder for lawfully present immigrants to use federal support programs, which they pay into through their tax dollars."

"All children and their families, regardless of where they were born, deserve access to the supports they need to thrive, including health care and food assistance. The LIFT the BAR Act restores that access for lawfully present immigrants, including those who were wrongfully and cruelly excluded from coverage due to last year's budget reconciliation bill. We know that children and families-and the communities where they live-flourish when they can meet their basic needs," said Wendy Chun-Hoon, President and Executive Director for the Center for Law and Social Policy. "CLASP is grateful to Representatives Jayapal and Menendez who are true champions of children and families by ensuring that access to basic needs are more equitable and reach those who need them."

"Everyone in the United States should be able to put food on the table, visit the doctor, and have a roof over our heads, regardless of immigration status," said Kica Matos, President of the National Immigration Law Center. "But now, because of intentional government policies and the 2025 reconciliation bill, hundreds of thousands of green card holders, refugees, trafficking survivors, and others have lost access to basic supports and have no pathway to affordable health care. Removing cruel restrictions on public programs would correct an injustice and represent an important step toward ensuring all of us have the freedom to thrive. We thank Reps. Jayapal and Menendez for their leadership in introducing LIFT the BAR Act, and we call on Congress to swiftly pass this commonsense bill."

Republicans' first reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, cut nearly $1 trillion from healthcare and $200 billion from nutrition assistance. Under the guise of "protecting" federal programs and to distract from these cuts, Republicans prohibited lawfully present immigrants from receiving certain federal benefits, including Medicaid and SNAP. This created additional restrictions on top of a 1996 law that established an arbitrary five-year waiting period for immigrants with legal status to access critical federal healthcare and nutrition assistance programs.

The LIFT the BAR Act would change this by:

• Restoring access to federal public benefits for lawfully present immigrants, including people with Lawful Permanent Resident status, DACA recipients, individuals granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and other federally authorized non-citizens residing in the United States;
• Restoring eligibility for food assistance and health coverage stripped in H.R. 1;
• Eliminating the five-year bar for Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, TANF, and the SSI program.
• Removing arbitrary barriers by ensuring that immigrants with sponsors have access to services based on the income and resources that are actually available to them, removing state authority to impose additional restrictions on qualified immigrants, and restoring flexibility for states and localities to provide benefits to immigrants with their own funds; and
• Restoring flexibility for states and localities to provide benefits to immigrants with their own funds.

The LIFT the BAR Act is led by Congressmembers Menendez and Jayapal and co-sponsored by over 99 members of Congress and endorsed by over 140 organizations.

Since coming to Congress, Rob Menendez has been a leader on fighting for immigrant rights and protecting key federal programs and access to healthcare. Congressman Menendez has repeatedly called out President Trump and Republicans for cutting programs such as Medicaid and targeting the Affordable Care Act. Earlier this year, Congressman Menendez joined a successful discharge petition forcing a vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits.

To read the full text of the bill, click here.

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