Hellcat
Registered
5
By Jason Song
Sun Staff
Originally published April 25, 2004
Yossif Sakirski used to enjoy painting buildings, going to parties - and having a little financial freedom, thanks to his monthly $546 Supplemental Security Income check.
The Baltimore resident doesn't paint or go to parties these days because of a painful leg injury. Worse, he is scheduled to lose his monthly checks in five months because of a quirk in U.S. immigration law - one of the thousands of immigrants throughout the nation facing a similar fate.
"At my age, to be left without any resources?" said the 71-year-old from the former Soviet Union through an interpr
ter. "Life has no meaning."
Because of a change in the 1996 Welfare Reform Bill, elderly and disabled refugees who arrived in the United States after Aug. 22, 1996, will lose their Supplem
ent
l Security Income checks and health care if they do not become
American citizens within seven years of their arrival.
Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is available to citizens who are older than 65 or are disabled and have "limited" financial means. The program is similar to Social Security but is funded through general tax revenue, not Social Security trust funds. A person cannot receive both.
Immigrant advocates have decried the law, saying that it targets a group of legal immigrants caught in a backlog as the federal government works to process citizenship papers. Over the next four years, the federal government estimates that nearly 30,000 people like Sakirski will lose their benefits.
The Social Security Administration is unsure how many Maryland residents
could be affected, said administration spokeswoman Carolyn Cheezum, but local immigrant experts estimate there are about 600.
But that estimate might be low because many refugees eligible
for
SSI
do not sp
eak English and may not be aware of the change.
"We're very concern
ed there could be more, and it could turn into an even bigger problem," said Jessica Rowe, a social worker with Jewish Family Services in Baltimore's Park Heights neighborhood, a group that is working with Sakirski.
Becoming a citizen is not easy for many elderly immigrants, who may have trouble learning enough U.S. history and English to pass the citizenship test. And citizenship applications can take as long as 10 years to process.
Feeling abandoned
"A lot of [refugees] are very surprised and shocked," said Dori Dinsmore, director of the Chicago chapter of World Relief, a nonprofit group that works with immigrants. "They think: 'Why would the government bri
ng us here and then abandon us?'"
The issue has drawn the attention of national leaders. President Bush has proposed extending the deadline by another year and Rep. B
enjamin
L. Cardi
n, a Maryland Demo
crat, has written legislation that would extend the deadline for two years. That legislation is being debated in Congre
ss.
The proposals are a "good first step," said Dinsmore, but any changes that happen may not have any affect on Sakirski.
A native of Azerbaijan, an independent country in the Caucasus region of the former Soviet Union, Sakirski had a quiet life in his hometown of Baku, painting buildings for a living. "I painted all the embassies in Baku," he said proudly.
He was married for a short time and had a daughter, but was divorced in the early 1960s and lost track of his wife and child. He also began to suffer from the anti-Semitism he said was common in the region.
Anti-Semitism
Once, he said, two of his co-workers u
ndid some of the screws on his scaffolding while Sakirski was at lunch. When Sakirski returned, his scaffolding collapsed and he fell nearly 10 feet, breaking his left leg
and hurting
his back, h
e said.
Sakirski h
ad to go to a Moscow hospital three times for treatment, he said, but was worried that another attack could occur. He said other J*ws were targeted
in similar ways. Sometimes, families would come home to find their apartments had been ransacked or, worse, they would discover that other people had moved in.
"I was born there, and I lived there. Of course I did not want to leave, but life forced me," he said.
Sakirski decided to immigrate to Baltimore in 1995 and was given political asylum in September 1997. He applied for a green card - a document that gives an immigrant legal status and is an important step toward obtaining citizenship - in 1998.
Citizenship
Later that year, Sakirski received a letter from the Social Security Administration, e
xplaining that he would lose his benefits by Sept. 22 of this year unless he became a citizen. Sakirski thought he would receive citizenship relatively quickly.
"I did no
t think America
would leave me without any assista
nce," he said.
But Sakirski did not receive his green card until last year, and will not be eligible to become a citizen until 2008. His benefits are due to exp
ire in September, meaning he could be without income or medical insurance for almost four years.
The thought terrifies Sakirski. Usually, he leads a calm life, enjoying Russian radio or television programs and going for short walks near his apartment on Park Heights Avenue. But these days his tranquillity has been disturbed.
'I can't sleep'
"I'm nervous, I can't sleep, I think about it all the time. I keep thinking about what I can do," Sakirski said.
Sakirski walks with a cane and goes to the hospital as many as three times a week. He takes medicati
on for pain, arthritis, high cholesterol and to help him sleep.
Jewish Family Services say they will help Sakirski when his benefits expire a
nd plan to offer hi
m financial and med
ical assistance. "He won't be lef
t behind," Rowe said.
Despite the prospect of such help, Sakirski remains worried about his financial future. As he walked back from a photo session, he muttered: "Maybe I can get work as a model."
[u
rl=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/yahoo/bal-md.ssi25apr25,0,1248636.story?coll=bal-newsaol-headlines]http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/yahoo/bal...wsaol-headlines[/url]
By Jason Song
Sun Staff
Originally published April 25, 2004
Yossif Sakirski used to enjoy painting buildings, going to parties - and having a little financial freedom, thanks to his monthly $546 Supplemental Security Income check.
The Baltimore resident doesn't paint or go to parties these days because of a painful leg injury. Worse, he is scheduled to lose his monthly checks in five months because of a quirk in U.S. immigration law - one of the thousands of immigrants throughout the nation facing a similar fate.
"At my age, to be left without any resources?" said the 71-year-old from the former Soviet Union through an interpr
ter. "Life has no meaning."
Because of a change in the 1996 Welfare Reform Bill, elderly and disabled refugees who arrived in the United States after Aug. 22, 1996, will lose their Supplem
ent
l Security Income checks and health care if they do not become
American citizens within seven years of their arrival.
Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is available to citizens who are older than 65 or are disabled and have "limited" financial means. The program is similar to Social Security but is funded through general tax revenue, not Social Security trust funds. A person cannot receive both.
Immigrant advocates have decried the law, saying that it targets a group of legal immigrants caught in a backlog as the federal government works to process citizenship papers. Over the next four years, the federal government estimates that nearly 30,000 people like Sakirski will lose their benefits.
The Social Security Administration is unsure how many Maryland residents
could be affected, said administration spokeswoman Carolyn Cheezum, but local immigrant experts estimate there are about 600.
But that estimate might be low because many refugees eligible
for
SSI
do not sp
eak English and may not be aware of the change.
"We're very concern
ed there could be more, and it could turn into an even bigger problem," said Jessica Rowe, a social worker with Jewish Family Services in Baltimore's Park Heights neighborhood, a group that is working with Sakirski.
Becoming a citizen is not easy for many elderly immigrants, who may have trouble learning enough U.S. history and English to pass the citizenship test. And citizenship applications can take as long as 10 years to process.
Feeling abandoned
"A lot of [refugees] are very surprised and shocked," said Dori Dinsmore, director of the Chicago chapter of World Relief, a nonprofit group that works with immigrants. "They think: 'Why would the government bri
ng us here and then abandon us?'"
The issue has drawn the attention of national leaders. President Bush has proposed extending the deadline by another year and Rep. B
enjamin
L. Cardi
n, a Maryland Demo
crat, has written legislation that would extend the deadline for two years. That legislation is being debated in Congre
ss.
The proposals are a "good first step," said Dinsmore, but any changes that happen may not have any affect on Sakirski.
A native of Azerbaijan, an independent country in the Caucasus region of the former Soviet Union, Sakirski had a quiet life in his hometown of Baku, painting buildings for a living. "I painted all the embassies in Baku," he said proudly.
He was married for a short time and had a daughter, but was divorced in the early 1960s and lost track of his wife and child. He also began to suffer from the anti-Semitism he said was common in the region.
Anti-Semitism
Once, he said, two of his co-workers u
ndid some of the screws on his scaffolding while Sakirski was at lunch. When Sakirski returned, his scaffolding collapsed and he fell nearly 10 feet, breaking his left leg
and hurting
his back, h
e said.
Sakirski h
ad to go to a Moscow hospital three times for treatment, he said, but was worried that another attack could occur. He said other J*ws were targeted
in similar ways. Sometimes, families would come home to find their apartments had been ransacked or, worse, they would discover that other people had moved in.
"I was born there, and I lived there. Of course I did not want to leave, but life forced me," he said.
Sakirski decided to immigrate to Baltimore in 1995 and was given political asylum in September 1997. He applied for a green card - a document that gives an immigrant legal status and is an important step toward obtaining citizenship - in 1998.
Citizenship
Later that year, Sakirski received a letter from the Social Security Administration, e
xplaining that he would lose his benefits by Sept. 22 of this year unless he became a citizen. Sakirski thought he would receive citizenship relatively quickly.
"I did no
t think America
would leave me without any assista
nce," he said.
But Sakirski did not receive his green card until last year, and will not be eligible to become a citizen until 2008. His benefits are due to exp
ire in September, meaning he could be without income or medical insurance for almost four years.
The thought terrifies Sakirski. Usually, he leads a calm life, enjoying Russian radio or television programs and going for short walks near his apartment on Park Heights Avenue. But these days his tranquillity has been disturbed.
'I can't sleep'
"I'm nervous, I can't sleep, I think about it all the time. I keep thinking about what I can do," Sakirski said.
Sakirski walks with a cane and goes to the hospital as many as three times a week. He takes medicati
on for pain, arthritis, high cholesterol and to help him sleep.
Jewish Family Services say they will help Sakirski when his benefits expire a
nd plan to offer hi
m financial and med
ical assistance. "He won't be lef
t behind," Rowe said.
Despite the prospect of such help, Sakirski remains worried about his financial future. As he walked back from a photo session, he muttered: "Maybe I can get work as a model."
[u
rl=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/yahoo/bal-md.ssi25apr25,0,1248636.story?coll=bal-newsaol-headlines]http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/yahoo/bal...wsaol-headlines[/url]
