Fmr. Trump official vows to ‘strenuously fight’ new Biden move that makes it easier for immigrants to get welfare

Jennie Taer, DCNF

Conservative organization America First Legal is vowing to “strenuously” fight the Biden administration’s decision to decrease obstacles for illegal migrants to obtain welfare, former Trump advisor Stephen Miller exclusively told the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday.

“Biden’s lawless rule flips that on its head and says: if you want a lifetime of free welfare come to the USA and our citizens will put in extra shifts to finance whatever benefits you need. This is wrong. It’s illegal. It’s enormously destructive. And America First Legal will strenuously fight it,” Miller, who is the founder of the organization, told the DCNF.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Thursday changes to the “Public Charge” rule applied to noncitizens “likely at any time to become a public charge,” that would exempt certain noncitizens receiving some welfare benefits from deportation. The new changes allow noncitizens to benefit from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid and housing benefits and benefits related to immunizations or testing for communicable diseases without deportation.

The Trump administration made changes to the rule in 2019 to include food stamps, Medicaid, cash assistance, Section 8 housing or other government-funded benefits to the “Public Charge” definition. A federal court vacated the decision in March 2021.

Jennie Taer//Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden administration’s announcement comes during an influx of illegal migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. Between Oct. 2022 and July 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities encountered over 1.9 million migrants at the southern border, according to agency statistics.

“This new regulation is a further and drastic evisceration of federal immigration law, a total gutting of the longstanding and bedrock statutory requirement that newcomers to America be financially self-sufficient and not in any way reliant on taxpayer largesse,” Miller said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 123 people considered to be public charges out of the 1,225,130 deportations between fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2019, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

DHS didn’t immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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