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TANF POLICY MANUAL
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4. When a refugee obtains legal permanent residency status, their eligibility for TANF and SNAP does not change. If otherwise eligible, they remain eligible based on the original status given by U. S. Citizens and Immigration Service (USCIS).
NOTE: For convenience, the term “refugee” will be used throughout the chapter to encompass all persons who are eligible to receive refugee program services.
21.2 Population Eligible for Refugee Cash Assistance Individuals with the following status may be eligible for services in the RCA based on their time in the U.S.: A. Refugee is any person who is outside any country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
B. Asylees are individuals, who, on their own, travel to the United States, apply for and receive a grant of asylum. These individuals do not enter the United States as refugees. They may enter as students, tourists, businessmen or without papers. Once they are in the United States, or at a land border or port of entry, they apply to the U. S. Citizens and Immigration Service (USCIS) for asylum, a status that will acknowledge that they meet the definition of a refugee and that will allow them to remain in the United States.
C. Cuban and Haitian Entrants are a national of Cuba or Haiti that has applied for asylum may be eligible to receive assistance and services as a Cuban and Haitian entrant. USCIS defines Cuban and Haitian entrants as:
(a) Any individual granted parole status as a Cuban/Haitian Entrant (Status Pending) or granted any other special status subsequently established under the immigration laws for nationals of Cuba or Haiti, regardless of the status of the individual at the time assistance or services are provided; and
(b) Any other national of Cuba or Haiti, (1) Who: (i) Was paroled into the United States and has not acquired any other status under the Immigration and Nationality Act; (ii) Is the subject of exclusion or deportation proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act; or (iii) Has an application for asylum pending with the Immigration and Naturalization Service; and (2) With respect to whom a final, non-appealable, and legally enforceable order of deportation or exclusion has not been entered.