The Justice Department sanctioned a powerful new legal tool the Trump administration can use to compel states to assist with the White House’s crackdown on immigration.
The Tuesday opinion by the Office of Legal Counsel sets a framework for the federal government to revoke future welfare grants from states that refuse to report immigrants that did not enter the nation lawfully — another example of the administration threatening to revoke federal funding to force states to provide more data and information about the immigrants who live there.
Funding for federal social services, like Social Security and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, have largely been dispensed at the discretion of the states since Congress overhauled the national welfare system in 1996. That revamp narrowed certain state reporting requirements in an effort to prevent noncitizens from taking welfare benefits. Previous administrations have agreed that the reporting burden falls only on the specific state agencies that dispense those funds.