Hundreds of groups repel on Trump denying access to legal immigrants to Head Start, other programs

The extended prohibition of the Trump administration of immigrant access to social services, such as the head of access and meals on wheels, could have a “devastating” impact on immigrant children, including American citizens, hundreds of adversaries said on Wednesday to the federal government.

In total, 372 organizations merged to oppose the administration’s decision to make health and human services programs funded by the federal government to immigrants with a certain form of authorization to be in the country.

The groups say that the administration is wrongly promoting the enlarged restrictions as part of its efforts to target illegal immigration. The policy “directly targets immigrants directly to the law legally” by transforming early learning centers, community health centers and mental health treatment programs and drug addiction “at immigration control points” where providers should verify a person’s immigration status, according to groups.

“Undreable immigrants are not already eligible for most programs funded by the federal government. This is another case where the administration is lying to the public, “said Adriana Cadena, director of the Protectring Immigration Families Coalition, who directed the opposition of organizations to the restrictions to be implemented by the Ministry of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Consequently, the restrictions will harm millions, the groups set out in the official comments deposited in response to the enlarged restrictions of the administration, Posted in the Federal Register on July 14.

The deadline for public comments on new restrictions was set at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

The children out of 4 in the United States are in a family with at least one immigrant parent. In 2023, 86% of these children were born in the United States, making them American citizens, according to Migration Policy Institute, a group for reflection on immigration. (President Donald Trump too wants to change such citizenship in the right of birth.)

Even if an American citizen child has the right to use a program, Restrictions on the Trump administration are likely to cause confusion and misunderstandings, said Cadena, due to the many children who are in families whose members have different types of immigration status.

“This will have long-term consequences that we cannot start to grasp,” she said.

In response to a request for comments from NBC News, the White House sent a link to a press release of July 10 by HHS announcing the new restrictions. The administration declared in the press release that he ensured that the public benefits were not “diverted to subsidize illegal foreigners”.

“For too long, the government has diverted the taxes of the Americans who work hard to encourage illegal immigration,” said HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in the July 10 press release. “Today’s action changes – it restores the integrity of federal social programs, applies the rule of law and protects vital resources for the American people.”

Expand the limited programs to “qualified” immigrants

The 1996 personal reconciliation of personal responsibilities has restricted the eligibility for federal public advantages to certain “qualified” immigrants, According to KFF, a health policy group.

Qualified immigrants have been defined as those who are legally present in the United States and do not include people with temporary protected status, those who have deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) and others, KFF reported.

HHS has added 13 additional programs to the list of programs only open to qualified immigrants.

Persons newly added by the Administration include Head Start, part of the funding of community health centers, family planning services, prevention of child protection, assistance to kinship tutor, drug prevention, treatment and recovery and mental health services and the subsidy of community services, have declared groups. The federal government said that the list was not complete and that more programs could be added later.

Groups argue that the programs and immigrant access to them have a greater advantage to society as a whole and that “the reduction of access to these vital programs will make all our communities less healthy, less safe, less stable, less capable of prospering”.

Restrictions on HHS programs announced in July were to be in effect immediately. The groups declared that few advice had been given to suppliers concerning their implementation, creating confusion and having a frightening effect on persons eligible for programs and advantages as well as non -profit organizations, local governments and others that provide them.

Several States continued on changes, Which, they believe, also affect programs such as meals on wheels, shelters of domestic violence, housing assistance and even more. A trial was also brought by the civil civil liberties Union and others on behalf of groups of parents Determine Trump’s policies on Head Start.

The administration provided a 30 -day commentary period for new restrictions.

“We do not necessarily expect a real interest on the part of the administration to request comments on public policy which will have an impact on millions of people,” said Cadena.

“This is the attack on the level of the Trump administration government against immigrant families and dismantling the safety net system on which many Americans count,” she said.