President Trump Issues Memo on Safety Net Benefits for Immigrants

ANCOR is sharing this May 24 article by Politico Pulse because the focus of the enforcement below are U.S. citizens who sponsor immigrants. This issue could affect U.S. citizens who bring family members to the U.S. who have disabilities and do not receive sufficient supports in their home countries. It could also affect the Direct Support Professional workforce, a quarter of which is comprised of immigrants. On a similar but unrelated topic, ANCOR weighed in on changes to the public charge rule last year. It is important to note that immigrants generally are not eligible for safety net benefits. Note that to access the original article, readers might have to scroll to the bottom of the Pulse page and select “View Archives”.

As written by Politico Pro:

“NEW WHITE HOUSE MEMO SEEKS TO CURB SAFETY-NET BENEFITS FOR IMMIGRANTS — Trump on Thursday signed a memo targeting the sponsors of immigrants who receive government benefits, a directive that could curb Medicaid enrollment as well as the take-up of other safety net programs such as food stamps and TANF.

The White House is directing federal agencies to ramp up enforcement of existing laws that require individuals sponsoring immigrants to reimburse the government if the immigrant receives safety-net benefits, and to consider the income of the sponsor when determining a non-citizen’s eligibility for benefits, POLITICO’s Rachana Pradhan reports.

— Under the memo, HHS shall take ‘all appropriate steps’ to enforce existing immigration rules for public benefits, including by issuing updated guidance on sponsoring households’ reimbursement obligations, the memo states. The department also must submit various reports to the White House on the effort, the soonest being required within 30 days.”