Rodriguez V. United States

This appeal involves a class action challenge to one provision of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which is more formally known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105 (1996). The challenged provision, codified as 8 U.S.C. § 1612, provides that only specified categories of aliens remain eligible for Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") or food stamps, or both. The plaintiffs are a class of aliens who do not fit within any of the eligible categories. The plaintiffs contend that the statute violates their Fifth Amendment right to equal protection because it does not include among those eligible for benefits all legal aliens. *fn1