The California Department of Social Services has issued a clarification that citizens of the free associated states of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia Palau are eligible for the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI).
Persons are eligible for CAPI if they are lawful immigrants who would have been eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits before August 22, 1996, the day the federal welfare reform law became effective. Lawful immigrants who were eligible for SSI before August 22, 1996 include persons who qualify as Persons Residing Under Color Of Law (PRUCOL).
Citizens of the freely associated states are PRUCOL and are therefore eligible for CAPI. ACL 16-33 (May 2, 2016).