Trump signs executive order ending benefits for illegal immigrants

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday evening that terminated any taxpayer benefits that may be going to illegal immigrants.

He also asked agencies to try to block money that goes to support sanctuary policies.

Mr. Trump signed executive orders aboard Air Force One on Wednesday evening as he returns to the White House from a weekend in Florida and a speech given to the FII Priority Summit in Miami earlier Wednesday.

“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,” the order says.

Illegal immigrants already face a general bar under federal law from obtaining taxpayer benefits, though there are some exceptions and loopholes.

Illegal immigrants can claim a child tax credit on their tax returns, as long as the children themselves are here legally.

And the White House said Medicaid money for emergency care and disaster relief dollars have flowed to illegal immigrants.

The Biden administration also expanded Obamacare eligibility to include illegal immigrants here under the Obama-era DACA program, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. That new policy was put on hold by a federal judge late last year.

Mr. Trump’s new order directs federal agencies to identify taxpayer funded benefits that go to illegal immigrants and “take all appropriate actions” to ensure that federal funds do not go toward “‘sanctuary policies’ that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.”

The order also calls for improvements in eligibility verification to stop anyone in the United States illegally to get federal benefits.

It says that within 30 days a team of top federal officials will identify other federal funding that is going to illegal immigrants, recommend other actions to stop illegal immigrants from receiving federal funding, and bring any examples violating the order to the departments of homeland security and justice.

The team will include the director of the Office of Management and Budget, currently Russell Vought; the administrator of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency; and Vince Haley, assistant to the president for domestic policy.

Mr. Trump tried to cut off Justice Department grant money to some sanctuary jurisdictions in his first term. Those efforts met stiff resistance in the courts.

The previous Trump administration also issued rules to try to discourage legal immigrants from collecting welfare payments, saying it could be used against them in future applications for more permanent legal status.

That met with severe resistance from immigration groups, who said it chased people away from getting assistance they needed and deserved.

That policy, too, was eventually blocked by court rulings.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform has calculated that the federal government spends $66.5 billion annually on costs incurred by illegal immigrants and their children.

In a statement Wednesday, FAIR President Dan Stein said Mr. Trump’s order will “deter illegal immigration and protect the interests of the American people.”

“It is clear that access to the vast array of public benefits that have been made available to illegal aliens has been a driving force behind years of record illegal immigration and the crushing burdens it has imposed on American taxpayers,” Mr. Stein said.