Cid v. South Dakota Department of Social Services

MILLER, Chief Justice.

[¶ 1.] In this appeal, we affirm the decision of the Department of Social Services (DSS), which terminated certain welfare benefits to a legal resident alien, and hold that the denial of such benefits does not violate a provision of the South Dakota Constitution, which prevents a distinction between resident aliens and citizens in reference to property.

FACTS

[¶ 2.] Carlos Cid, who is of Chilean ancestry, has worked in the United States since 1979 and is a naturalized United States citizen. In 1994, he married Me-darda Lagang, a Filipino, who at the time of the marriage…