The California Department of Social Services has issued instructions about benefits eligibility for persons paroled as refugees. The immigration status paroled as a refugee is a category of parole that includes persons who enter the United States under the Central American Minors program and persons eligible for conditional entry, between February 1970 and April 1980 whose application for admission to the United States was denied because of an inadequate number of visas.
Persons paroled as refugees are eligible for Refugee Resettlement Program benefits, CalWORKs and CalFresh. Persons paroled as refugees should be eligible for SSI after one year and are eligible for CAPI until they are eligible for SSI because they are considered permanent residents under color of law. ACIN I-48-16 (June 29, 2016).