President Donald Trump’s Labor Department is vowing to revoke federal grant money from states that willfully give unemployment benefits to illegal aliens.
In a letter to states, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer makes clear that her office will carry out Trump’s executive orders titled “Preventing Illegal Aliens from Obtaining Social Security Act Benefits” and “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders.”
“It is critical that we ensure American taxpayer dollars do not go towards encouraging or rewarding illegal immigration to the United States,” Chavez-DeRemer writes.
In particular, the labor secretary said unemployment benefits are for Americans, not illegal aliens, and states willfully giving such benefits to illegal aliens risk having federal grant money revoked:
Our nation’s unemployment benefits exist solely for workers who are eligible to receive them. To qualify for unemployment, one must be able and available to work, actively seeking work, and be legally authorized to accept employment in the United States. Unemployment benefits are not a handout for those in our country illegally. [Emphasis added]
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This letter also reminds states of their existing legal obligations regarding immigrant access to unemployment benefits and that noncompliance with these existing obligations will result in the loss of the state’s Title III UI administrative grant. [Emphasis added]
An investigation released in 2022 by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) found that sanctuary states like New York and Colorado used the Chinese coronavirus pandemic to open unemployment benefits to illegal aliens — paid for by American citizens.
A preliminary report from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) issued this month found that several dozen migrants released into the United States by former President Joe Biden’s parole pipeline had been taking unemployment benefits despite being on the FBI’s Terrorist Watch List or having a criminal record.
The sanctuary state of California has routinely attempted to pass legislation that would provide jobless illegal aliens with a right to unemployment benefits.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
