The Trump administration has issued a no-nonsense warning to states: if you are caught handing out unemployment benefits to illegal immigrants, you will lose your federal funding.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer made it clear that unemployment insurance is intended strictly for individuals who are legally authorized to work in the United States. “Benefits are for those who are legally permitted to work, not for those who have broken our laws to be here,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “States that continue to ignore the law will be held accountable.”
Eligibility for unemployment benefits requires not only that an individual be actively seeking work but that they have legal authorization to accept employment in the United States. Under new directives from the Trump administration, all states are now required to use the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) program to verify immigration status before distributing benefits.
States that refuse to comply could face severe penalties, including the loss of federal administrative grants that fund their unemployment insurance systems.
This crackdown comes as part of President Trump’s broader effort to ensure that taxpayer resources are reserved for American citizens and lawful workers, not for those who entered the country illegally. It also reflects a broader push across the administration to tighten eligibility requirements across the welfare system, including food assistance programs and other forms of public aid.
“We are restoring the rule of law in every part of the government,” a senior administration official said. “Every dollar spent on someone here illegally is a dollar stolen from a hardworking American family.”
The move has already sparked backlash from open-borders activists and left-wing politicians, but the Trump administration is standing firm. The message is clear: states that attempt to subvert federal immigration laws by handing benefits to illegal aliens will face swift consequences.
President Trump has made safeguarding American jobs, American wages, and American benefits a centerpiece of his second-term agenda—and actions like these show he intends to follow through.