The Trump administration is working on a plan to stop illegal immigrants from receiving federal benefits.
“We are working to cut off federal benefits to illegal aliens and preserve them for U.S. citizens,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed in a X post on Nov. 28.
Bessent stated there was “no place” in the nation’s financial system for anybody in the United States illegally.
He said that the Treasury Department “announced that it will issue proposed regulations clarifying that the refunded portions of certain individual income tax benefits are no longer available to illegal and other non-qualified aliens, covering the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Saver’s Match Credit.”
The Nov. 28 announcement followed President Donald Trump’s criticism of the United States’ immigration system in his Thanksgiving message on Nov. 27.
“The official United States Foreign population stands at 53 million people (Census), most of which are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels,” Trump wrote on social media.
“They and their children are supported through massive payments from Patriotic American Citizens who, because of their beautiful hearts, do not want to openly complain or cause trouble in any way, shape, or form. They put up with what has happened to our Country, but it’s eating them alive to do so! A migrant earning $30,000 with a green card will get roughly $50,000 in yearly benefits for their family.”
The Trump administration issued a series of immigration-related orders over the week of Thanksgiving, including a major announcement from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on the evening of Nov. 28.
“USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow wrote in an X post. “The safety of the American people always comes first.”
The agency, governed by the Department of Homeland Security, announced on Thanksgiving Day that it would be reviewing Green Card holders.
“At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” Edlow wrote on X. “The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies. American safety is non negotiable.”
On Nov. 26, the agency stated that it would also stop processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals.
The decision came shortly after Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who once worked with the CIA, allegedly shot two National Guard members just steps away from the White House.
The ambush killed Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and sent Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, to the hospital in critical condition.