Trump administrator demands crackdown on illegal immigrants who use their interests

The USDA requires states to ensure that illegal immigrants do not use food stamps.

The department hopes states will follow President Donald Trump’s executive order starting in February, which seeks improved ways to check whether illegal people in the country are not receiving federal benefits, including the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The measure is designed to combat fraud and serve as a safeguard because illegal immigrants are no longer allowed to use snapshot benefits. Only citizens and some legal non-citizens can do this.

“We have been arrested in Minnesota, New York and Colorado,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Fox News Digital in an interview.

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“We will become extremely positive. Now, hopefully it is also a deterrent.”

The USDA requires states to cross-check social insurance numbers using death master files and use a system verification (save) system for non-citizens to apply for benefits, among other steps to verify immigration status.

Rollins said it was “the president’s vision to make sure we are most effective with taxpayers’ money.”

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“So we think we will be able to reduce billions of frauds and save a lot of money for taxpayers,” she said.

Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Secretary John Walk wrote in a letter to the state agency Thursday that explained the existing law.

“Under the law, only U.S. citizens and certain foreigners who are legally present can get the benefit of snapshots. The Personal Liability and Job Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) establishes that “foreigners within the borders of the state do not rely on public resources to meet their needs”. Snap is not, nor is it available to illegal foreigners,” Walk wrote.

Tavern with electronic benefit transfer sign in Queens window in New York (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images via Get Image Group)

The crackdown is due to a higher scrutiny on the eligibility of benefits for illegal immigrants, such as the Medicaid program in California, which can be attended without regard to their immigration status even if people are funded by state and federal taxpayer funds.

California Republicans say illegal immigrants are eligible for their bankruptcy in the program, while Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said that this is just one factor in the larger cost of health care in the country.

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“The federal government is now more focused than ever on how states spend money,” Rollins said. “I'm from Texas. Actually, I'm confident in the Texas system. Honestly, the red states may have some intentions and caution about it. Of course, it's the blue state that tends to want everyone to get back to the taxpayer's back. I think we'll find more, but hopefully it's a replacement for everyone.”

In addition to immigration, SNAP also faces calls for reform from several states to no longer allow the purchase of “junk food.” Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow the state to ban the purchase of candy and soda with quick benefits while adding barbecue chicken to the list of available options.

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

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“President Trump and his administration will focus on addressing the chronic disease epidemic in the United States, and reforming our food stamp program is a good starting point,” Sanders said in an April 15 press release.

“Banning soda and candy from food stamps will remove some of the most unhealthy, most processed foods from the program and encourage low-income Arkansas to eat better.”