Donald Trump made his strongest move against illegal immigration yet on Wednesday, signing an executive order that stops taxpayer money from going to undocumented migrants.
The White House fact sheet stated that Trump is ‘committed to safeguarding Federal public benefits for American citizens who are truly in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans.’
On the border, Trump is demanding ‘corrective action’ to stop ‘all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens,’ according to the order.
Currently, children are entitled to a free K-12 public education regardless of immigration status under a 1982 Supreme Court ruling.
Trump also took note of a 1996 law overhauling welfare benefits that denies most illegal migrants public benefits that says ‘over the last four years, the prior administration repeatedly undercut’ it.
He claims the Biden administration’s border crisis resulted ‘in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources.’
The president appears to be taking action against his predecessors use of parole to allow people into America on a temporary basis, including the controversial CBP One app used at the Mexican border that allowed 900,000 migrants in.
More than 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who flew to the US at their own expense with a financial sponsor took advantage of the program. Trump immediately ended both programs.
Donald Trump made his strongest move against illegal immigration yet Wednesday, signing an executive order that stops taxpayer money from going to undocumented migrants
The president is demanding ‘corrective action’ to stop ‘all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens ,’ according to the order
Biden also granted parole to nearly 300,000 people from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
People granted parole for at least a year are considered ‘qualified non-citizens,’ making them eligible for some income-based benefits, but only after five years.
They include Medicaid and the Children´s Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage to children in families that earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, according to the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The order also directs federal department and agencies to identify all federally funded programs currently providing any financial benefits to immigrants in the country illegally and put a stop to it.
‘It ensures that Federal funds to states and localities will not be used to support “sanctuary” policies or assist illegal immigration,’ reads a White House fact sheet about the order.
The order also includes a mandate to improve benefit eligibility verification to make sure benefits are not going to immigrants in the US illegally.
It isn’t clear if the money to select groups would include the Elon Musk-suggested ‘DOGE Dividend,’ though Trump expressed willingness to consider sending Americans checks to represent the money saved by Musk’s ‘nerd army.’
Trump’s order appears to have other targets, some already subjects of earlier edicts and Justice Department lawsuits.
Trump also took note of a 1996 law overhauling welfare benefits that denies most illegal migrants public benefits that says ‘over the last four years, the prior administration repeatedly undercut’ it
Migrants in Guatemala City on February 18 after arriving on a deportation flight from the US
It directs all departments and agencies to identify federal benefit spending that is inconsistent with the 1996 welfare law.
Trump signed 10 executive orders on immigration on his first day in office. They included ending automatic citizenship for people born in the United States and asylum at the southern border.
The birthright citizenship order has been temporarily halted in court, though recent polling shows most Americans support the president on the issue.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday night, Trump said he thinks ICE is doing a ‘great job.’
Among his efforts taken on immigration, the president has also allowed the military to act as immigration and border enforcement officials and reprioritized the building of the border wall.
Trump moved to end so-called ‘catch and release’ which allows some migrants to remain in the US while they wait for court proceedings, instead opting for detentions and deportations of those in the US illegally.
He also stopped the refugee arrivals and paused the US Refugee Admission Program pending a review.
Trump signed 10 executive orders on immigration on his first day in office. They included ending automatic citizenship for people born in the United States and asylum at the southern border
‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan posted to X on Monday that in the past 24 hours, US Border Patrol only encountered 229 migrants attempting to cross into the United States – down from a high water mark of 11,000 a day during the Biden years
More broadly, the president has also pushed to redefine birthright citizenship under the Fourteen Amendment, which is already being challenged in federal court.
The Biden administration made the changes to deal with the massive influx of illegal immigrants trying to get into the US in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since Trump took over nearly a month ago, illegal border crossings have dropped substantially, as deportations have ramped up.
‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan posted to X on Monday that in the past 24 hours, US Border Patrol only encountered 229 migrants attempting to cross into the United States – down from a high water mark of 11,000 a day during the Biden years.
‘I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984 and I don’t remember the number ever being that low,’ Homan commented. ‘President Trump promised a secure border and he is delivering.’
Homan pushed back on an Axios report from Friday that said the Trump administration wasn’t arresting as many illegal immigrants crossing into the US as the Biden administration.
The Trump official explained this is because fewer people have been making those illegal crossing.
He added that the new administration has been focused on ‘interior arrests.’
‘And we’re blowing them out of the water,’ Homan said.
Homan said that there were more than 600,000 illegal immigrants in the US with criminal convictions.
‘So I won’t be happy until we eradicate every one of those,’ Homan said.
The Trump administration shocked a number of Americans by putting out a Valentine on Friday highlighting the president and Homan’s deportation policy.
The card, posted on official @WhiteHouse social media accounts, showed Trump and Homan on a pink background.
‘Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally and we’ll deport you,’ the Valentine’s Day message read.
