LIFT the BAR Act

This Act may be cited as the “Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration Act” or the “LIFT the BAR Act”.

(a) Elimination of arbitrary eligibility restrictions.—

(1) PRWORA repeals.— Sections 402, 403, 411, 412, 421, and 422 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612, 1613, 1621, 1622, 1631, and 1632) are repealed.

(2) Public Law 119–21 repeals.—

(A) SNAP eligibility.— Section 10108 of an Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14 (Public Law 119–21) is repealed and the provision of law amended by such section is restored as if such section had never been enacted.

(B) Medicaid and chip eligibility.— Section 71109 of an Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14 (Public Law 119–21) is repealed, the provisions of law amended by such section are restored as if such section had never been enacted, and the unobligated balances of amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by section are rescinded.

(C) Limiting medicare eligibility coverage of certain individuals.— Section 71201 of an Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14 (Public Law 119–21) and section 1899C of title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395mmm), as added by such section 71201, are repealed.

(b) Notification and information reporting.— Section 404 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1614) is amended by striking “, 402, or 403”.

(c) Qualified noncitizens.— Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended—

(1) in the header, by striking “Aliens” and inserting “Noncitizens”;

(2) by striking “alien” each place that it appears and inserting “noncitizen”;

(3) by striking “aliens” each place that it appears and inserting “noncitizens”;

(4) by striking “alien’s” each place that it appears and inserting “noncitizen’s”;

(5) by striking “an alien” each place that it appears and inserting “a noncitizen”;

(6) by striking “qualified alien” each place that it appears and inserting “qualified noncitizen”;

(7) by striking “qualified aliens” each place that it appears and inserting “qualified noncitizens”;

(8) by striking “qualified alien’s” each place that it appears and inserting “qualified noncitizen’s”;

(9) in section 402—

(A) in the header, by striking “Qualified Aliens” and inserting “Qualified Noncitizens”; and

(B) in subsection (a)(2)(L), by striking “qualified aliens” and inserting “qualified noncitizens”;

(10) in section 403, in the header, by striking “Qualified Aliens” and inserting “Qualified Noncitizens”;

(11) in section 411, in the header, by striking “Qualified Aliens” and inserting “Qualified Noncitizens”; and

(12) in section 412, in the header, by striking “Qualified Aliens” and inserting “Qualified Noncitizens”.

(d) Access to basic services for lawfully residing noncitizens.— Section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641) is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)—

(A) in the header, by striking “qualified alien” and inserting “qualified noncitizen”;

(B) by striking “alien” and inserting “noncitizen”;

(C) by striking “an alien” and inserting “a noncitizen”; and

(D) by striking “benefit” and all that follows through the period at the end of the subsection and inserting “benefit, is lawfully present in the United States.”;

(2) in subsection (c)—

(A) in the header, by striking “qualified aliens” and inserting “qualified noncitizens”;

(B) by striking “; or” at the end of paragraph (3) and inserting “;”;

(C) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4) and inserting “; or”; and

(D) by inserting after paragraph (4):

“(5) a noncitizen—

(A) in a category that was treated as lawfully present for purposes of section 1101 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 18001) on or before January 1, 2025;

(B) who met the requirements of section 402(a)(2)(D) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1612(a)(2)(D)) on or before January 1, 2025;

(C) who is granted special immigrant juvenile status as described by section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J));

(D) who has a pending, bona fide application for nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(U) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C 1101(1)(15)(U));

(E) who was granted relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program; or

(F) any other person who is not a citizen of the United States but who resides in a State or territory of the United States and is federally authorized to be present in the United States.”; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(d) Noncitizen.— For the purposes of this title, the term noncitizen means any individual who is not a citizen of the United States.”.

(e) Child nutrition programs.— Section 742 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1615) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)—

(A) in the header by striking “School lunch and breakfast programs” and inserting “Child nutrition programs”;

(B) by striking “the school lunch program” and inserting “any program”; and

(C) by striking “the school breakfast program under section 4 of the” and inserting “any program under”; and

(2) in subsection (b)(1)—

(A) by striking “Nothing in this Act shall prohibit or require a State to provide to an individual who is not a citizen or a qualified alien, as defined in section 431(b),” and inserting “A State shall not deny”; and

(B) by striking “paragraph (2)” and inserting “paragraph (2) on the basis of an individual’s citizenship or immigration status”.

(f) Exclusion of medical assistance expenditures for citizens of freely associated States.— Section 1108(h) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1308(h)) is amended—

(1) by striking “Expenditures” and inserting:

“(1) Expenditures”; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(2) With respect to eligibility for benefits for the designated Federal program defined in paragraph (3)(C) (relating to the Medicaid program), paragraph (1) shall not apply to any individual who lawfully resides in 1 of the 50 States or the District of Columbia in accordance with the Compacts of Free Association between the Government of the United States and the Governments of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau and shall not apply, at the option of the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or American Samoa as communicated to the Secretary of Health and Human Services in writing, to any individual who lawfully resides in the respective territory in accordance with such Compacts.”.

(g) Child health insurance program.— Section 2107(e)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397gg(e)(1)) is amended—

(1) by striking subparagraph (O); and

(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (P), (Q), (R), (S), (T), and (U) as subparagraphs (O), (P), (Q), (R), (S), and (T).

(h) Conforming amendments.—

(1) Supplemental food assistance program.— The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) is amended—

(A) in section 5—

(i) by striking subsection (i); and

(ii) by redesignating subsections (j) through (n) as subsections (i) through (m), respectively;

(B) in section 6—

(i) in subsection (f), by striking “an alien lawfully admitted for permanent” and all that follows through the end of the subsection and inserting “a noncitizen lawfully present in the United States.”; and

(ii) in subsection (s)(2), by striking “(m), and (n)” and inserting “and (m)”; and

(C) in section 11(e)(2)(B)(v)(II) by striking “aliens” each place it appears and inserting “noncitizens”.

(2) Medicaid.— Section 1903(v) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)) is amended—

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking “admitted for” and all that follows through the end of the paragraph and inserting “present in the United States.”; and

(B) striking paragraph (4).

(3) Housing assistance.— Section 214(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a(a)) is amended by—

(A) redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and

(B) inserting after paragraph (5):

“(6) a qualified noncitizen as defined in section 431 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641);”.

(4) General rule on noncitizens’ eligibility.— Section 401 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1611) is amended—

(A) in the header—

(i) by striking “Qualified Aliens” and inserting “Qualified Noncitizens”; and

(ii) by striking “Aliens” and inserting “Noncitizens”; and

(B) by striking “alien” each place it appears and inserting “noncitizen”.

(5) Assistance not treated as debt absent fraud.— Section 213A(b)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by striking “benefit,” and inserting “benefit by fraud,”.

(i) Preserving State funding for medicaid.— Section 71110 of an Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14 (Public Law 119–21) is repealed, the provision of law amended by such section is restored as if such section had never been enacted, and the unobligated balances of amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by section are rescinded.

(j) Premium tax credit.—

(1) Restoration of allowance of premium tax credit for certain individuals.—

(A) In general.— Section 71301 of Public Law 119–21 is repealed, and each provision of law amended by such section is amended to read as such provision would read if such section had never been enacted.

(B) Effective date.— Each amendment made by this paragraph shall take effect as if included in the provision of Public Law 119–21 to which such amendment relates.

(2) Restoration of allowance of premium tax credit during periods of medicaid ineligibility due to alien status.—

(A) In general.— Section 36B(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by section 71302 of Public Law 119–21, is amended by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraph:

“(B) Special rule for certain individuals lawfully present in the United States.— If— the taxpayer shall, for purposes of the credit under this section, be treated as an applicable taxpayer with a household income which is equal to 100 percent of the poverty line for a family of the size involved.

(i) a taxpayer has a household income which is not greater than 100 percent of an amount equal to the poverty line for a family of the size involved,

(ii) the taxpayer is a non-citizen lawfully present in the United States,

(iii) the taxpayer is ineligible for minimum essential coverage under section 5000A(f)(1)(A)(ii), and

(iv) under the Medicaid eligibility criteria for non-citizens in effect on December 26, 2020, the taxpayer would be ineligible for such minimum essential coverage by reason of the taxpayer’s immigration status,”.

(B) Effective date.— The amendment made by this paragraph shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.

(k) Federal agency guidance.— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each Federal agency, as applicable, shall issue guidance with respect to implementing the amendments made by this Act.

(l) Effective date.— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply to services furnished on or after the date that is 180 days after the date on which any guidance is issued pursuant to subsection (k).