Taxpayers will no longer pay for the education of noncitizens in the U.S. illegally, the U.S. Department of Education said Thursday.
The department said “it will end taxpayer subsidization of illegal aliens in career, technical, and adult education programs.”
A news release said that this change takes place due to an interpretative rule issued Thursday in which “the Department rescinded a Dear Colleague letter from the Clinton Administration that enabled non-qualified illegal aliens to access federal public benefits in contravention of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA).”
Title IV of PRWORA “generally limits eligibility for ‘federal public benefits’ to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and certain categories of ‘qualified aliens,’” the release said.
Federal public benefits include “any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, food assistance, unemployment benefits, or any similar benefits for which payments or assistance are provided to an individual, household, or family eligibility unit.”
In 1997, “the Clinton Administration issued a Dear Colleague Letter that erroneously exempted career, technical, and adult education programs from being subject to PRWORA,” the release said.
“In doing so, the Department’s interpretation mischaracterized the law by creating artificial distinctions between federal benefit programs based upon the method of assistance,” the release said. “Congress made no such distinction in PRWORA.”
The department’s release said that Thursday’s interpretive rule “also ensures that postsecondary education programs authorized under the Higher Education Act (HEA), such as Pell Grants and student loans, continue to be inaccessible to illegal immigrants.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the release: “Postsecondary education programs funded by the federal government should benefit American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, hardworking American taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for illegal aliens to participate in our career, technical, or adult education programs or activities,” McMahon said.
“The Department will ensure that taxpayer funds are reserved for citizens and individuals who have entered our country through legal means who meet federal eligibility criteria,” McMahon said.
Director of Policy Studies Jessica M. Vaughan at the Center for Immigration Studies told The Center Square that “taxpayers should not have to subsidize vocational or other post-secondary education for illegal aliens, who aren’t allowed to work in this country.”
The Center for Immigration Studies is an “independent, non-partisan, non-profit, research organization,” according to its website.
“Illegal workers displace American workers and cause their wages to go down, Vaughan said.
The department’s release explained that “interpretive rules cannot have effective dates and are not binding on the public or the Department.”
Additionally, Thursday’s interpretive rule “represents the Department’s current position on the issue and may be referenced when enforcing or monitoring grantee and subgrantee compliance with PRWORA.”
When reached, the Department of Education referred The Center Square to its news release, as well as its March decision to revoke waivers to California and Oregon colleges and universities that used “federal funds to provide services to illegal aliens.”
The department’s action is in response to Trump’s February executive order “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,” the release said.
The U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Homeland Security announced in March that they were ending taxpayer-funding house for illegal aliens, The Center Square reported.
The executive order “directed federal agencies to stop funding public benefits for foreign nationals living illegally in the U.S.,” as The Center Square reported.
