President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday night barring illegal immigrants from receiving federally-funded benefits.
“My Administration will uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans,” read the text of Trump’s order.
The president noted that the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) ostensibly prohibits illegal immigrants from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits, but he argued that in the decades since its passage “numerous administrations have acted to undermine the principles and limitations directed by the Congress.”
Trump claimed that the Biden administration “repeatedly undercut the goals of that law, resulting in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources.”
As a result, “taxpayer resources” have acted as a “magnet” for migrants, “fueling illegal immigration to the United States,” according to the president.
Trump’s order directs the head of every federal agency to “ identify all federally funded programs administered by the agency that currently permit illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit” and “take all appropriate actions to align such programs” with PRWORA and other federal laws.
The commander in chief further ordered government officials to “ensure, consistent with applicable law, that Federal payments to States and localities do not, by design or effect, facilitate the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration, or abet so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.”
Trump’s executive order also asked federal agencies to “enhance eligibility verification systems, to the maximum extent possible” in an effort to exclude illegal immigrants from taxpayer-funded benefits.
The president tasked the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, with identifying “all other sources of Federal funding for illegal aliens” and recommending “additional agency actions to align Federal spending with the purposes of this order.”
The order demands that agencies refer any improper benefits going to illegal immigrants to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for “appropriate action.”
The move is part of the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, one of Trump’s key campaign promises.
The president has lauded Musk and DOGE for helping implement several of his executive orders that he argued would’ve been ignored by federal workers without the bureaucracy-cutting team in place.
