The State - News from Aug. 13, 1985

Applicants for political asylum in the United States have no right to welfare or Medi-Cal benefits while their requests are being approved, even though they may also be denied the right to work, a federal appeals court in San Francisco decided. In a 2-to-1 ruling, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Elizabeth Sudomir, who fled Poland in 1981 to avoid persecution as a member of that country’s outlawed Solidarity union, and Iranian nationals Ebrahim Nejati and Mahin Vojdani, who overstayed their visas because they feared returning to their homeland, were not eligible for welfare or Medi-Cal benefits because of their applicant status. But Judge William Canby, in a dissenting opinion, pointed out that they are also forbidden to seek or hold employment and were thus “denied the means to feed, clothe and house their families” during the three to six years it takes for their asylum applications to be processed.