The Department of Agriculture of President Trump announced Tuesday that they are taking measures to make sure that illegal immigrants living in the United States do not qualify for food stamps.
In a release, the Department of Agriculture said, “U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins directed today the Food and Nutrition Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (FNS) to clarify and enforce immediately all rules restricting their beneficiaries to U.S. Citizens and Legal Residents only.”
In the press release, it is stated that this directive “enforces’ Trump’s executive order of February 19, which aims to “ensure taxpayer resources aren’t used for incentivizing or supporting illegal immigration”.
In a recent statement, Agriculture Secretary Rollins stated that “the days of taxpayer dollars being used to subsidize illegal immigration have passed.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that it will adhere to the law.
Republicans, including Senator Joni Ernst, have long warned against food stamp fraud. The bill was recently introduced to combat overpayments of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known colloquially as “food Stamps.”
She said that bureaucratic mistakes are leaving millions of dollars unaccounted for as Americans struggle to pay the $36 trillion in debt.
“SNAP is essential in feeding families. We need to improve its integrity, by holding the states responsible for increasing error rates and implementing a zero-tolerance policy.”
Tom Homan, Trump’s Border Czar said last week that illegal immigrants are encouraged to enter the U.S. because they receive more benefits in return than Americans earn in salary.
Homan stated, “It is a major factor… the number of welfare cards and food stamps and envelopes for social services you can see in these households, and this has been happening for years.”