Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

Public Assistance and Housing 287
57. Id. See also 02 INF-36 (Nov. 5, 2002) where OTDA policy states the
administrative intent of this regulation is for the sharing of limited
information.
58. Id.
59. Id.
60. Id.
61. Id.
62. Id.
63. Please see the chapter addressing battered immigrants for a more
comprehensive analysis of this complex issue. Additionally, OTDA
recently released a new Informational Directive, 06INF-14 (Mar. 22, 2006;
Errata May 5, 2006), which comprehensively outlines OTDA’s policies on
battered immigrants’ eligibility for a myriad of public assistance benefits.
64. For a general description of non-citizens’ access to public benefits see
Empire Justice Center, Restrictions on Eligibility of Non-Citizens in NYS
for Certain Public Benefits, revised December 2005,
http://www.empirejustice.org/IssueArea/ImmigRights/AccessToPubBen/
2005/EmpireJustceFordhamChart2005.pdf (last visited June 19, 2006).
See also The Legal Aid Society, An Advocate’s Guide to Government
Benefits for Immigrants, Jennifer Baum,
http://www.legal-aid.org/Uploads/Immigrants.pdf (last visited June 19, 2006).
65. See 03 INF-19 (Apr. 28, 2003).
66. M.K.B. v Eggleston, a pending lawsuit filed in the Southern District of
New York in 2005, has challenged OTDA’s practice of systematically
denying immigrants public benefits. As of June 2006, M.K.B., through an
interim order, has an informal relief form that can be used if battered
immigrants, PRUCOL immigrants, and certain green card holders are
denied public assistance, Medicaid, or food stamps by a NYC Job Center
due to immigration status. Among those immigrants commonly denied are:
(1) battered immigrants who have filed Violence Against Women Act
(VAWA) self-petitions; (2) battered immigrants married to green card
holders or citizens whose husbands filed papers on their behalf (ex. I-130
family-based petition, K or V Visa); (3) those granted deferred action
(often due to a U Visa petition based on cooperation with the prosecution
in pressing charges against an abuser); and (4) those immigrants who are
PRUCOL due to a valid pending application with federal immigration
authorities (ex. pending green card application, approved I-130 petition, K,