Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer urged governors to comply with President Trump’s directives ensuring tax dollars are not spent on encouraging or rewarding illegal immigration. In a letter to governors, Chavez-DeRemer said that all states failing to fulfill existing legal obligations will lose federal funding through the Title III UI administrative grant, saying that “unemployment benefits are not a handout for those in the country illegally.” Chavez-DeRemer also said that she instructed the Employment and Training Administration to send a letter to all State Unemployment Insurance Administrators urging them to immediately start using the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) immigration database for every initial and continuing unemployment claim filed by an individual who indicates that they are not a U.S. citizen.
On a similar note, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins issued guidance to states directing them to enhance identity and immigration verification practices when determining eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Rollins said this must be done to fulfill President Trump’s Executive Order on “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders”. The guidance requires states to obtain more reliable documents to prove identity, take additional measures to deter fraudulent use of social security numbers, and better use the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system.