Trump signs executive order targeting 'benefits for illegal aliens'
Source: The Guardian
Thu 20 Feb 2025 00.01 EST
Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at ending federal benefits for people in the country illegally, his latest in a blizzard of moves to crack down on immigration.
The White House said the order seeks to end “all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens” but it was not clear which benefits will be targeted. People in the country illegally generally do not qualify except for emergency medical care. Children are entitled to a free K-12 public education regardless of immigration status under a 1982 supreme court ruling.
The order notes that a 1996 welfare overhaul denies most public benefits to people in the country illegally but says that law has been gradually undermined. “Over the last 4 years, in particular, the prior administration repeatedly undercut the goals of that law, resulting in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources.”
Trump’s words appear directed at former president Joe Biden’s extensive use of parole authority to allow people into the country temporarily, including more than 900,000 through an online appointment app called CBP One used at border crossings with Mexico, and more than 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who flew to the US at their own expense with a financial sponsor. Trump immediately ended both programs. Biden also granted parole to nearly 300,000 people from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/20/donald-trump-executive-order-benefits-illegal-aliens-immigration