8 U.S.C. § 1624
Section 1624 · Authority of States and political subdivisions of States to limit assistance to aliens and to distinguish among classes of aliens in providing general cash public assistance
This is § 553 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Ehrlich v. Perez (2006)
Most recently applied in Ehrlich v. Perez (October 2006)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Subject to subsection (b) of this section and notwithstanding any other provision of law, a State or political subdivision of a State is authorized to prohibit or otherwise limit or restrict the eligibility of aliens or classes of aliens for programs of general cash public assistance furnished under the law of the State or a political subdivision of a State.
The authority provided for under subsection (a) of this section may be exercised only to the extent that any prohibitions, limitations, or restrictions imposed by a State or political subdivision of a State are not more restrictive than the prohibitions, limitations, or restrictions imposed under comparable Federal programs. For purposes of this section, attribution to an alien of a sponsor's income and resources (as described in section 1631 of this title) for purposes of determining eligibility for, and the amount of, benefits shall be considered less restrictive than a prohibition of eligibility for such benefits.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Section was enacted as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, and as part of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997, and not as part of title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 which comprises this chapter.