The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Thursday it was rescinding a nearly 30-year interpretation of legislation that allowed immigrants without legal status to access certain federal public benefits.
HHS said it was officially rescinding a 1998 interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which allowed immigrants without legal status to access services like community health centers and Head Start, the federal program that provides education, health and nutrition services to low-income families.
In fiscal 2022, Head Start provided services to 833,000 children and pregnant women.
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The PRWORA, passed in 1996, restricted benefit eligibility for immigrants without legal status and many legal immigrants during their first few years in the U.S. But exemptions allowed for states to extend benefits to immigrants without legal status, including programs for public health and emergency services.
“For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Today’s action changes that—it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.”
HHS said in its announcement that the new interpretation “reverses outdated exclusions” from the bill’s language.
The programs no longer exempted from the PRWORA’s restrictions include Head Start, health center programs, health workforce programs and substance use programs, among others. The new interpretation goes into effect immediately upon being published in the Federal Register, though there will be a 30-day comment period.
