Thousands of elderly and disabled refugees who have found safety in the United States in recent years may soon find out just how cold and equivocal America’s welcome can be. These vulnerable newcomers are subject to a federal law that cuts off their disability benefits if they do not become citizens within seven years.

The refugees fled war and persecution in places like Vietnam, Iraq and Somalia, and they bear the scars — many have lost limbs or their eyesight. They have built new lives here, with government help, including essential Supplemental Security Income benefits that will be withdrawn if they don’t get their citizenship papers. A bill to extend the limit to nine years passed the House last July by voice vote, and it was to be offered for unanimous consent in the Senate. That is until Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, exercised his right to place a “hold” on the bill, sending it into limbo.

What is DeMint’s problem? Is it hostility to immigrants or anything that smells like government assistance, even for the poor and disabled? Congress and the White House must insist on an explanation and press him to lift his hold. Vulnerable people who have found refuge here must not be forced further into poverty because of a palsied bureaucracy’s inflexible deadlines — or one senator’s obstructionism. — The New York Times