GOP firebrand urges Trump agencies to claw back massive taxpayer benefits paid out to immigrants

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., is urging key agencies in the Trump administration to recoup what he believes could amount to billions in Medicaid, SNAP and education expenses paid out to immigrants on the American taxpayer’s dime.

Banks, a first-term senator and conservative firebrand, argues that by law the sponsors of legal immigrants to the U.S. are required to reimburse the government for any welfare benefits used by their sponsee. Though written in law, the Immigration and Nationality Act, Banks said this has by and large not been carried out.

Under the Trump administration, however, he believes that can finally change.   

In a letter sent on Wednesday to the secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development and the commissioners of the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration, Banks asked the agencies to hold immigrant sponsors accountable and refund American taxpayers.

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Banks cites a study by the Center for Immigration Studies that posit that illegal aliens alone cost American taxpayers an estimated $68 billion a year in public education costs, $42 billion in welfare, and $7 billion in medical treatment, which he said is “eclipsing the amount this group pays in taxes.”

Aside from the benefits paid out contrary to the law to illegal aliens, Banks said the government “may also be owed repayment for a large portion of lawful use.”

“It is the policy of the United States that aliens should not depend on public resources,” Banks wrote in the letter.

Despite this, Banks wrote that “most alien households receive means-tested [income-based] benefits,” such as Medicaid, SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

“The immigration laws do not tolerate this rate of government dependence,” he wrote, pointing to a portion of the Immigration and Nationality Act that he said ensures self-sufficiency “by mandating repayment for benefits received by certain non-citizens.”

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“Sponsoring relatives agree to reimburse the federal government for any means-tested benefit used by the alien before that alien becomes a citizen. This pledge is executed in a contract,” he wrote, adding that “pursuant to that contract, agencies that administer means-tested programs may seek repayment for benefits received while the alien was a non-citizen.”

For the largest source of legal immigration into the U.S., the family visa program, Banks said the contract can be enforced in court for ten years. There have been an estimated 3.5 million immigrants who have entered the country through the program since 2016.

Banks said that “no records can be found of federal agencies requesting reimbursement” for benefits to immigrants entering the program, indicating that “American taxpayers may well be owed a large amount of money.”

He asked the Trump administration to provide answers by March 1 on the total amount in means-tested benefits paid out to immigrants under these contracts and the amount the government has sought to have reimbursed. He also asked the administration to share its plans to enforce the contracts and lay out what steps agencies will be taking “to ensure that aliens do not become dependent on government support after entering the country.”

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In response to the letter, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development told Fox News Digital that HUD “is exploring all options to hold alien sponsors accountable and protect the American taxpayer.”

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A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture told Fox News Digital that “non-citizens who have been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are not eligible to receive SNAP benefits unless they also have another immigration status that qualifies.”

The USDA spokesperson said “the rules governing eligibility for our programs, including SNAP, can be complex and often depend on multiple factors such as immigration status and other requirements.”

“For example, Haitian nationals granted TPS are not eligible for SNAP just because they have TPS. However, they may qualify if they also meet the definition of a Cuban and Haitian entrant (CHE) under Section 501(e) of the Refugee Education and Assistance Act of 1980,” they said, adding, “Individuals who are eligible based on their immigration status, such as being classified as a Cuban or Haitian entrant, must also satisfy other SNAP eligibility requirements such as income and resource limits.”

Meanwhile, Banks told Fox News Digital “this is about enforcing the law that’s already on the books.”

“Sponsors agreed to repay taxpayers if immigrants went on welfare, and the government needs to hold them to that promise,” he concluded.