Education. and Welfare received a great deal of critical comment. For the most part. State regulations have not differentiated between resident aliens and illegal aliens. Federal requirements of the Social Security Act. likewise. do not make any distinction between these groups. Simply put. the Supreme Court in the Graham decision stated that statutes which attempt to restrict public assistance payments from lawfully admitted resident aliens are in violation of the 14th amendment. The concern in both the public and private sectors has resulted from the apparent intention of the Department of Health. Education. and Welfare to interpret the Graham decision in such a way as to prevent the States from denying welfare payments to illegal aliens. As I have stated. this concern is manifested by the fact that existing law does not distinguish between resident and illegal aliens. In a letter to Secretary Richardson on July 28. 1972. I reviewed the Supreme Court cases on this matter and concluded that the Court never intended to state that laws which deny welfare payments to illegal aliens are violative of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. The majority decision which was written by Justice Blaokmun is quite clear on this point. Nevertheless. those who interpret the Constitution "loosely" no doubt believe that. under existing law. illegal aliens must be categorized In the same manner as lawfully admitted resident aliens. As I have stated. I cannot agree with this contention and cannot see how such an interpretation of the Social Security Act or the Graham decision could be formulated.
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illegal aliens