The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated Thursday that illegal aliens can no longer access its benefits that are taxpayer-funded.
The department, had, since 1998, interpreted the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) to mean that even illegal aliens can utilize some federal public benefits, but now, that interpretation is formally rescinded. According to the new interpretation, Congress had only intended these benefits for Americans.
“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration. Today’s action changes that—it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement.
According to a press release from the agency, “HHS is complying with the law—ensuring that federal benefits are administered with transparency, legal integrity, and fairness to the American people.”
The application of PRWORA’s plain-language definition of “Federal public benefit” is one of the changes that comes from the new policy.
The benefits that illegals can no longer access include Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics; Community Mental Health Services Block Grant; Community Services Block Grant (CSBG); Head Start; Health Center Program; Health Workforce Programs not otherwise previously covered (including grants, loans, scholarships, payments, and loan repayments); Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Prevention, and Recovery Support Services Programs administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Grant Program; Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant; Title IV-E Educational and Training Voucher Program; Title IV-E Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program; Title IV-E Prevention Services Program; and Title X Family Planning Program. However, “the above list is not exhaustive,” the statement from HHS said.
“Preliminary analysis by HHS estimates American citizens could receive as much as $374 million in additional Head Start services annually,” the statement added.
“Alongside HHS, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is committed to providing and protecting resources that serve America’s most vulnerable. Head Start’s classification under the new PRWORA interpretation puts American families first by ensuring taxpayer-funded benefits are reserved for eligible individuals,” Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison said.
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