Trump demands crackdown on benefits for undocumented immigrants

This country spends billions of dollars on benefits for illegal immigrants, and the Trump administration is demanding that states start to crack down on it.

The question, however, is whether Trump can deliver on his threat that states that do not comply will face consequences.

Billions for Illegals

When Joe Biden was in office, he came up with all kinds of creative ways for illegals to enter this country and become “legal.”

Biden had the CBP app, parole programs, extended asylum claims for specific countries, etc. As a result, they became eligible for public assistance programs.

Some of the programs they were tapping into were Food Stamps (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, “SNAP”), child nutrition programs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Pell Grants, and student loans, just to name a few.

The Economic Policy Innovation Center estimated the cost of illegals using these programs would amount to $177 billion over the next decade.

States Warned Funding at Risk

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is now threatening states over illegal immigrants receiving unemployment benefits.

He stated, "Our nation’s unemployment benefits exist solely for workers who are eligible to receive them.

"To qualify for unemployment, one must be able and available to work, actively seeking work and be legally authorized to accept employment in the United States. Unemployment benefits are not a handout for those in our country illegally."

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also came out to say that she is working to ensure that undocumented immigrants are not receiving SNAP benefits.

Trump Demands Action

If we can stop paying benefits to illegals, it would be a huge load off the back of taxpayers, and would also serve as a great way to force illegals to leave the country.

Again, Secretary Rollins was leading the charge, stating, "We've already made arrests in Minnesota and New York and Colorado, and we're just getting started." She later added, "We're going to be extremely, extremely aggressive. Now, hopefully it acts as a deterrent also."

John Walk, acting deputy under secretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services, stated, "By law, only United States citizens and certain lawfully present aliens may receive SNAP benefits. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) established that ‘aliens within the Nation’s borders not depend on public resources to meet their needs.’  SNAP is not and has never been available to illegal aliens.”

I am all for this, and while I know it will be challenged, I look forward to seeing how the courts would rule on this. I know most of us are sick and tired of hearing about people coming over the border illegally, then living off the taxpayer dime, so I firmly believe if the administration is successful here, as Rollins stated, it would also be yet another deterrent for people to consider coming here illegally.