While the government remains shut down because Democrats demand free healthcare for illegal immigrants, President Trump has ordered a sweeping audit of federal programs to ensure that other taxpayer-funded benefits are not being distributed to illegal aliens.
The order encompasses at least 28 major programs across multiple federal agencies. Housing audits include the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program and public housing. The Department of Health and Human Services is reviewing 13 programs, including Head Start, Community Health Centers, Medicaid, and the Title X Family Planning Program, as well as a range of behavioral health and substance abuse grants. Nutrition and welfare initiatives such as SNAP (food stamps) and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) are also included in the audit.
In addition, the Department of Labor has been directed to verify immigration status within workforce programs such as WIOA, senior and youth job training, and migrant and seasonal worker initiatives. The Department of Education will apply enhanced verification to Pell Grants, student loans, and career and technical education programs. Together, these reviews represent one of the most comprehensive federal efforts to ensure that public benefits are reserved for American citizens and legal residents.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner has ordered a nationwide audit of public housing authorities, requiring them to verify the citizenship or legal immigration status of all Section 8 recipients within 30 days of receiving HUD’s notice. The directive, issued on August 31, 2025, stems from President Trump’s February 19, 2025 Executive Order 14218, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders.”
Under the order, authorities must provide proof of citizenship or eligible immigration status, along with recipients’ names, addresses, and unit information. Failure to comply could trigger a review of HUD funding or program eligibility.
Federal law has barred illegal aliens from receiving Section 8 assistance since 1980, but Turner said the audit aims to ensure proper enforcement and prevent applicants from leaving citizenship fields blank. He also signaled that new rules may address “mixed-status” households containing both citizens and illegal aliens. A similar effort was made during the first Trump administration in 2019 but was later reversed by the Biden administration in 2021.
On July 10, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it was rescinding a 1998 interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) that had allowed illegal aliens to access certain federal public benefits for more than two decades. The updated 2025 policy broadened the definition of “federal public benefits,” adding 13 new programs to the existing 31 already restricted.
The newly restricted programs include Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, Community Mental Health Services Block Grant, Community Services Block Grant, Head Start, the Health Center Program, Health Workforce Programs (grants, loans, scholarships, and loan repayments), Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Prevention, and Recovery Support Services Programs, as well as Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Grant Program.
Also included are substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant, Title IV-E Educational and Training Voucher Program, Title IV-E Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program, and the Title X Family Planning Program.
HHS estimated that American citizens could receive as much as $374 million in additional Head Start services annually as a result of limiting access for illegal aliens. The policy took effect immediately upon publication in the Federal Register on July 14, 2025, with a 30-day comment period.
However, federal courts issued preliminary injunctions in September 2025 blocking enforcement in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Despite the legal challenges, the administration maintains that the policy preserves roughly $40 billion in benefits for American citizens.
In May 2025, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz announced that a federal audit had uncovered more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments made on behalf of illegal aliens. Following the discovery, the Department of Health and Human Services began transferring Medicaid recipient data to the Department of Homeland Security to ensure Medicaid funds are not misused to subsidize care for illegal aliens.
On July 10, 2025, the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration issued guidance requiring all federally funded workforce programs to verify that participants have valid work authorization before receiving services.
This includes programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) for senior workers, youth, migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and dislocated workers. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the policy ensures taxpayer-funded job training and placement services are reserved for individuals legally allowed to work in the United States, reversing guidance from the Biden administration.
That same day, the Department of Education ended taxpayer subsidization of illegal aliens in career, technical, and adult education programs by rescinding a 1997 Clinton-era directive. The change extends existing restrictions under the Higher Education Act, which already bars illegal aliens from Pell Grants and federal student loans, to programs under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. Citizenship and immigration checks are now required for dual enrollment and early college programs serving high school students.
Career and technical education programs served about 11 million students in 2019–20, supported by roughly $1.3 billion in federal funds in 2021. The Department of Education will not take enforcement action under PRWORA before August 9, 2025, and has agreed to delay any further enforcement until at least September 10, 2025, pending ongoing litigation.
The Trump administration has spent months consolidating federal data to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, including identifying noncitizens fraudulently receiving public benefits. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), initially led by Elon Musk, has played a central role by merging multiple federal databases and gaining access to key agency systems.
Earlier in 2025, the Department of Homeland Security reached data-sharing agreements with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to collect information on noncitizens. These efforts follow President Trump’s March 20 executive order calling for “unfettered access to comprehensive data from all state programs that receive federal funding.”
As part of this broader initiative, CMS and DHS launched a joint data-sharing program to ensure illegal aliens do not receive Medicaid or other federal benefits. Several states, including Colorado, are now reviewing how to respond to federal data requests, with some officials arguing that compliance could violate state privacy laws.
President Trump is trying to save taxpayers money by stopping U.S. benefit programs from funding illegal aliens. Democrats oppose the cuts, and the press tells everyone that Trump is Hitler and that he’s wrong. It’s incredible how difficult they make it to do something good for the American people.
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