{"id":1829,"date":"2026-09-03T10:12:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T10:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2026-09-03T10:12:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T10:12:27","slug":"doj-says-states-could-lose-federal-funds-for-failing-to-report-illegal-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1829","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Says States Could Lose Federal Funds for Failing to Report Illegal Immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Justice Department has issued a legal opinion that could put federal funding at risk for states that refuse to report illegal immigrants to the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Read more Federal Judge Blocks Trump\u2019s Latest Attempt to Restrict Birthright Citizenship<\/a><\/p>\n

In an opinion issued Tuesday, the department\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that states participating in two major federal assistance programs must report people they know are illegally present in the United States.<\/p>\n

The requirement applies to states receiving funding through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, and Supplemental Security Income, or SSI.<\/p>\n

Previous administrations interpreted the reporting requirement more narrowly, applying it only to state agencies directly administering the federal programs. The new opinion concludes that Congress imposed the requirement on the state government as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress wrote this requirement plainly,\u201d Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser said. \u201cWhen a state chooses to participate in TANF, it accepts the obligation to report illegal aliens in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTax dollars intended to help vulnerable Americans should not perversely encourage illegal entry into the United States, but rather should reinforce our laws and our borders,\u201d Gaiser added.<\/p>\n

The opinion formally withdraws a 1998 Clinton administration interpretation of the law.<\/p>\n

The change could give the Trump administration another tool to pressure sanctuary states and other jurisdictions that resist cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Because every state participates in major federal assistance programs, the interpretation could have nationwide implications.<\/p>\n

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The Justice Department said the policy would apply only to future federal funding arrangements. The government cannot retroactively change agreements made under the previous interpretation, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Craddock wrote.<\/p>\n

States also remain free to reconsider whether they want to participate in the programs under the new requirements.<\/p>\n

The opinion takes a more expansive approach to when a state can be considered to \u201cknow\u201d that an individual is in the country illegally. That knowledge could come from a Department of Homeland Security notification, government records showing unlawful status or an individual\u2019s own admission, according to Craddock.<\/p>\n

An agency also cannot deliberately avoid readily available information to claim it lacks knowledge of someone\u2019s immigration status, he wrote.<\/p>\n

The opinion does not immediately cut off money to states. Federal agencies must determine how to implement the interpretation, and attempts to withhold funding are likely to face court challenges.<\/p>\n

Federal courts have previously blocked Trump administration efforts to condition federal funding on state and local cooperation with immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

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The Justice Department has issued a legal opinion that could put federal funding at risk for states that refuse to report illegal immigrants to the Trump\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDOJ Says States Could Lose Federal Funds for Failing to Report Illegal Immigrants - Urban Economy news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1829\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ Says States Could Lose Federal Funds for Failing to Report Illegal Immigrants - 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