HHS rescinds undocumented immigrant access to federal health benefits
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Trump administration changes rules for Head Start, banning immigrants without legal status
The Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that several federal programs will be off limits to immigrants without legal status. The changes will affect 75% of Colorado’s Head Start programs. Without the program, students will fall behind, and working parents could be unable to access child care. The new rules would only be available to American citizens and “qualified” immigrants, including lawful permanent residents and people who have been granted asylum. The change could free up more than $300 million a year, according to the HHS.
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DENVER — Thousands of people in Colorado could soon lose access to federally funded health and education services as the Trump administration redefines what it means to be a welfare program.
The changes announced in a news release by the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday make several federal programs newly off-limits to immigrants without legal status by rescinding a 1998 federal guideline issued by President Bill Clinton that allowed undocumented immigrants to access some programs that aren’t considered “federal public benefits”.
The HHS said it’s reclassifying a long list of HHS-funded programs as federal benefits, like the federally funded Head Start preschool program, which also provides family support services, including nutritional assistance, health screenings and parent education programs.
“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr in the news release. “Today’s action changes that—it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.”
The head of Colorado’s Head Start Association, Heather Frenz, said without the program, students will fall behind, and working parents could be unable to access child care.
“A lot of these families specifically that this notice is targeting work in our meatpacking plants or agricultural areas,” Frenz said. “They work long hours. They need childcare. The majority of our parents are either working or in school, and then we don’t know if that will allow them to be in the workplace anymore.”
Under the new rules, Head Start would only be available to American citizens and “qualified” immigrants, including lawful permanent residents and people who have been granted asylum.
Frenz said the new guidelines affect 75% of Colorado’s Head Start programs, and they’re looking into getting state funding for Head Start in Colorado.
“That is something that 14 other states do with blending funds, and so we’re looking forward to that,” Frenz said. “We’re really working towards it, but it just has not happened yet.”
HHS estimates the changes to Head Start could free up more than $300 million a year.
US health department widens immigrant benefit restrictions
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday it was rescinding an almost three-decade-old policy. The move is part of President Donald Trump’s wide immigration crackdown. By law, most immigrants already do not qualify for programs designated “federal public benefits” like Medicaid and Social Security. The new policy takes effect as soon as it is published in the Federal Register but is subject to a 30-day public comment period, adds 13 more categories of programs.”For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) – The Trump administration is widening its interpretation of a law banning most immigrants living in the United States from receiving federal public benefits to include 13 new categories of programs including Head Start preschool programs for low-income children.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday it was rescinding an almost three-decade-old policy that identified 31 programs as “federal public benefits” and interpreting the term more loosely to include more programs, bringing the total to 44.
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“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The move is part of President Donald Trump’s wide immigration crackdown.
The administration says its policies target immigrants living in the country illegally but has implemented several affecting permanent residents and others present legally.
By law, most immigrants already do not qualify for programs designated “federal public benefits” like Medicaid and Social Security.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 defined legal permanent residents, people granted asylum, and other categories of immigrants as “qualified” and barred them from major benefits programs for five years.
It defined all other immigrants including those living in the country illegally as well as those on temporary visas like students or foreign workers, as “not qualified” and banned them from enrolling in most programs altogether.
The law did not define what programs count as “federal public benefits” and therefore included in the restrictions; however, leaving it to federal agencies administering benefits to determine.
HHS issued a notice interpreting the law in 1998 which listed 31 programs including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Foster Care, Adoption Assistance, Child Care and Development Fund, and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
The department said on Thursday that interpretation improperly extended some benefits to immigrants living in the country illegally. The new policy, which takes effect as soon as it is published in the Federal Register but is subject to a 30-day public comment period, adds 13 more categories of programs.
Aside from Head Start, those include various grants or programs for substance use recovery and prevention, the Title X Family Planning Program, health workforce programs, and projects for helping people transition from homelessness.
HHS said the new list was not exhaustive and that it would issue further guidance for the affected programs.
Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Richard Chang
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