Roland Gutierrez: “In 94 days the new welfare law will rip apart the social safety net for hundreds of thousands of elderly, disabled, and…”

“In 94 days the new welfare law will rip apart the social safety net for hundreds of thousands of elderly, disabled, and vulnerable legal immigrants. But today, consider one such immigrant, just one, a woman in my district in Chicago. Sophia is a 91-year-old Polish immigrant. She is in poor health and has little means of support besides her supplemental Social Security. During World War II, Sophia, then still in Poland, hid as many as a dozen Jews in her home, saved them from certain death at the hands of the Nazis. Because of her compassion and courage, Sophia received a unique distinction from the Government of Israel. She received and was recognized as a righteous person because she had given others the chance to survive. Now Sophia has received a notice from our Government telling her that she is unworthy of Federal assistance, cutting off her only means of survival. We have 94 days to restore benefits to legal immigrants like Sophia, to restore a sense of fairness and logic to the welfare debate, to restore the principles of compassion and justice. America should be proud to have immigrants like Sophia and ashamed of our harsh new welfare law.”