Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a new policy on Thursday that would effectively bar migrants in the United States illegally from accessing certain federal education and medical programs, such as Head Start.
HHS said in a statement the new restrictions restore compliance with a 1996 law known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which was interpreted in 1998 to extend availability of certain public health programs to undocumented immigrants.
Kennedy said in a statement the federal government improperly interpreted the scope of that law for more than two decades but now will comply with the law in administration of relevant federal benefits.
“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” Kennedy said. “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.”
Specifically, HHS changes the interpretation of the law by applying a plain-language definition of “federal public benefit” and affirming that certain programs are subject to eligibility restrictions.
HHS has made public a proposed rule to enact the new restrictions. The notice establishing the policy is set to take effect immediately upon publication in the Federal Register and has a 30-day comment period, the statement says.
“The Department anticipates that numerous unqualified aliens will no longer receive benefits under Federally funded programs due to this notice,” the rule says. “This is a necessary result of the Department’s obligation to comply with the law. It is also necessary to remedy the corresponding harm of the denial of limited benefits to those U.S. citizens and qualified aliens who otherwise would receive benefits to which they are entitled, but for them being provided to unqualified aliens.”
For Head Start, the proposed rule lays out its determination on why migrants should be barred from Head Start, calling it similar to benefits explicitly excluded under the text of the law.
“At the very least, the 1998 Notice wholly fails to explain why a program like Head Start would not fall within the term ‘other similar benefit,'” the rule says.
The complete list of newly restricted programs as provided by HHS now classified “Federal public benefits” is below, although the department says the list isn’t exhaustive:
- Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics.
- Community Mental Health Services Block Grant.
- Community Services Block Grant (CSBG).
- Head Start.
- Health Center Program.
- Health Workforce Programs not otherwise previously covered (including grants, loans, scholarships, payments, and loan repayments).
- Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Prevention, and Recovery Support Services Programs administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
- Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Grant Program.
- Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant.
- Title IV-E Educational and Training Voucher Program.
- Title IV-E Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program.
- Title IV-E Prevention Services Program.
- Title X Family Planning Program.
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