Charles D. Baker Marylou Sudders
Governor Secretary
Karyn Polito Jeff McCue
Lieutenant Governor Commissioner
Report on
Transitional Aid to
Families with Dependent
Children – Eligible
Noncitizen Status Clients
March 2021
Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance
 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSITIONAL ASSISTANCE
REPORT ON TRANSITIONAL AID TO FAMILIES WITH DEPENDENT
CHILDREN – ELIGIBLE NONCITIZEN STATUS CLIENTS
MARCH 2021
REPORT OVERVIEW
Massachusetts General Law Chapter 18, Section 2(B)(r) requires the Department of Transitional
Assistance (DTA) to file a report detailing the number of Transitional Aid to Families with
Dependent Children (TAFDC) clients who are present in the United States under an eligible
noncitizen status, as described in 106 CMR 203.675.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSITIONAL ASSISTANCE MISSION
DTA’s mission is to assist and empower low-income individuals and families to meet their basic
needs, improve their quality of life, and achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency. DTA offers
a comprehensive system of programs and supports to help individuals and families achieve
greater economic mobility, including food and nutritional assistance, economic assistance, and
employment supports. Currently, DTA serves one out of every eight people in the
Commonwealth including working families, children, elders, and people with disabilities.
E LIGIBLE NONCITIZEN STATUSES FOR TAFDC
A noncitizen’s eligibility for TAFDC depends on the section of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (INA) 1 under which the noncitizen is present in the United States, the date that status was
granted, and the meeting of additional criteria. There are 11 unique statuses that DTA
recognizes in determining noncitizen applicant’s eligibility for benefits. Those statuses are as
follows:
• Veteran or Active Duty Personnel
• Legal Permanent Resident
• Refugee
• Withholding of Deportation
• Parolee
• Conditional Entrant
• Battered Noncitizen
• Cuban/Haitian Entrant
• Amerasian
• Victims of Severe Forms of Trafficking
TAFDC RECIPIENTS WITH E LIGIBLE NONCITIZEN STATUS
The following table, compiled as of January 2, 2021, depicts the number of eligible noncitizens
TAFDC recipients by each of the 11 unique statuses.
1
8 USC § 1101, et seq.
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 TABLE 1
ELIGIBLE NONCITIZEN R ECIPIENTS BY NONCITIZEN STATUS
Noncitizen Status Recipients
Veterans and Active Duty Personnel 0
Legal Permanent Resident 1,233
Refugee 282
Asylee 71
Withholding of Deportation 13
Parolee 19
Conditional Entrant 0
Battered Noncitizens 42
Cuban/Haitian Entrants 140
Amerasian 0
Victims of Severe Forms of Trafficking 6
TOTAL 1,819
E LIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Additional eligibility criteria for each status can be found below in Table 2, as well as 106 CMR
203.675.
TABLE 2
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR NONCITIZEN STATUSES
Noncitizen
Individual is eligible if...
Status
Veterans and Active they are lawfully residing in the U.S. is an eligible noncitizen when he or she is:
Duty Personnel a. a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces with honorable discharge not related
to his or her noncitizen status;
b. a person on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, other than active duty
for training, who fulfills the minimum active-duty service requirement of
24 months or the period for which the person was called to active duty;
c. a spouse of the veteran or person who died during active duty if:
a. the spouse has not remarried; and
b. the couple was married for at least one year or for any period if a
child was born of the marriage or was born before the marriage;
d. a spouse or unmarried dependent child of the veteran or person on active
duty described in (a) or (b) above. For purposes of this section, an
unmarried dependent child is a child who is or could be claimed as a
deduction on the veteran’s tax return and who meets the definition of a
dependent child as specified in 106 CMR 203.560(B);
e. a Hmong or other Highland Lao veteran who fought on behalf of the
Armed Forces of the U.S. during the Vietnam conflict and has been
lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence; or
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 f. a member of the organized military forces of the Government of the
Philippines while such forces were in the service of the Armed Forces of
the United States pursuant to the military order dated July 26, 1941,
including organized guerrilla forces under commanders organized by the
U.S. Army for service prior to 7/1/46.
Legal Permanent they are present in the U.S. as a legal permanent resident, and if:
Resident a. The legal permanent resident status was granted before 8/22/96;
b. The legal permanent resident status is granted on or after 8/22/96 and
five consecutive years have elapsed from the date the legal permanent
resident status was granted;
c. The legal permanent resident status, regardless of the date the legal
permanent status was granted, was a status adjustment by INS and prior
to the status adjustment the noncitizen was (i) a refugee under section
207 of the INA, (ii) an asylee under section 208 of the INA, (iii) a noncitizen
whose deportation was being withheld under section 243(h) or 241(b)(3)
of the INA, (iv) a Cuban/Haitian entrant under section 501(e) of the
Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980 or under section 212(d)(5) of
the INA, or (v) an Amerasian immigrant under section 584 of the Foreign
Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriations Act,
1988; or
d. The noncitizen, who entered the U.S. before 8/22/96, whose legal
permanent resident status was granted on or after 8/22/96, and who has
been continuously present in the U.S. from the latest date of entry prior to
8/22/96 until the legal permanent resident status was granted.
Continuous presence is interrupted by a single absence from the U.S. of
more than 30 days or a total of aggregated absences of more than 90
days.
Refugee they are present in the U.S. as a refugee under section 207 of the INA
Asylee they are present in the U.S. as an asylee under section 208 of the INA
Withholding of their deportation is being withheld under section 243(h) or 241(b)(3) of the
Deportation INA
Parolee they are present in the U.S. as a parolee under section 212(d)(5) of the INA,
and if:
a. The parolee status was granted before 8/22/96 and the noncitizen is being
paroled for a period of at least one year; or
b. The parolee status is granted on or after 8/22/96, the noncitizen is eligible
after five consecutive years have elapsed from the date the parolee status
was granted; or (c) The noncitizen who entered the U.S. before 8/22/96,
whose parolee status was granted on or after 8/22/96, and who has been
continuously present in the U.S. from the latest date of entry prior to
8/22/96 until the parolee status was granted is an eligible noncitizen.
Continuous presence is interrupted by a single absence from the U.S. of
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 more than 30 days or a total of aggregated absences of more than 90
days.
Conditional Entrant they are present in the U.S. as a conditional entrant under section 203(a)(7) of
the INA as in effect prior to 4/1/80, and if:
a. The conditional entrant status was granted before 8/22/96; or
b. The conditional entrant status is granted on or after 8/22/96, the
noncitizen is eligible after five consecutive years have elapsed from the
date the conditional entrant status was granted; or
c. The noncitizen who entered the U.S. before 8/22/96, whose conditional
entrant status was granted on or after 8/22/96, and who has been
continuously present in the U.S. from the latest date of entry prior to
8/22/96 until the conditional entrant status was granted.
d. Continuous presence is interrupted by a single absence from the U.S. of
more than 30 days or a total of aggregated absences of more than 90
days.
Battered while lawfully residing in the U.S., they or their minor child:
Noncitizens a. has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the U.S. by:
i. a spouse or a parent, or a member of the spouse’s or parent’s
family residing in the same household as the noncitizen; and
ii. the spouse or parent consented or did not intervene to stop such
battery or cruelty. A noncitizen who actively participated in the
battery or cruelty toward his or her child is ineligible; and
b. the individual responsible for the battery or cruelty is no longer residing in
the same household as the noncitizen or minor child subjected to the
battery or cruelty; and
c. the noncitizen has been approved or has a pending petition for:
i. status as a spouse or a child of a U.S. citizen pursuant to clause (ii),
(iii), or (iv) of section 204(a)(1)(A) of the INA;
ii. classification pursuant to clause (ii) or (iii) of section 204(a)(1)(B)
of the INA;
iii. suspension of deportation and adjustment of status pursuant to
section 244(a)(3) of the INA; or
iv. iv. status as a spouse or child of a U.S. citizen pursuant to clause i
of section 204(a)(1)(A) of the INA, or classification pursuant to
clause i of section 204(a)(1)(B) of the INA
Cuban/Haitian they are present in the U.S. as a Cuban/Haitian entrant under section 501(e) of
Entrants the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980 or under section 212(d)(5) of
the INA
Amerasian they are from Vietnam and are present in the U.S. as an Amerasian immigrant,
as defined in section 584 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and
Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1988
Victims of Severe they are present in the U.S. having been issued a letter of certification by the
Forms of Trafficking U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as proof of the victim of
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severe forms of trafficking status, as defined in the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000.
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