I 116th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5071 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 13, 2019 Ms. Ocasio-Cortez (for herself, Ms. Meng , Ms. Garcia of Texas , Ms. Tlaib , Mr. García of Illinois , and Ms. Lee of California ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To provide access to Federal public benefits for aliens, without regard to the immigration status of that alien, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the A Just Society: The Embrace Act . 2. Federal public benefit accessibility for aliens (a) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 ( 8 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), an individual who is an alien (without regard to the immigration status of that alien) may not be denied any Federal public benefit solely on the basis of the individual’s immigration status. (b) Definition For purposes of this section, the term Federal public benefit means— (1) any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license provided by an agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States; and (2) any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, food assistance, unemployment benefit, or any other similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided to an individual, household, or family eligibility unit by an agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States.