The Trump administration announced several policies in line with its promise to secure our borders and protect American taxpayers. America needs to firmly stand against welfare abuse by immigrants, both legal and illegal.
Supporting data makes the urgency crystal clear. A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reveals that illegal aliens accessed welfare programs at higher rates than citizens in almost every state. These are not abstract statistics. In Texas, this translates to real dollars taken out of the pockets of hardworking Texans to support criminals who entered our country in violation of our laws and who take advantage of our nation’s generous social safety net.
In a clear message, Stephen Miller confirmed the administration will pursue policies to debank illegal immigrants, cutting off their access to the financial systems that enable them to live in the United States. If illegal aliens are unable to deposit money they earn in the United States, they are more likely to self-deport.
By cutting off illegal aliens’ access to financial systems, the federal government is deterring future invaders and de-incentivizing illegal immigration for those already here. Ideally, this will result in higher numbers of self-deportations while making ICE’s job easier and safer. For years, our state has borne a disproportionate burden from illegal immigration—strained hospitals, migrant crime, overcrowded schools, and billions in taxpayer dollars funneled into fraud-ridden welfare programs.
At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security is wisely reviving the “public charge” rule, which will deny green cards to legal immigrants who rely on public benefits. This restores a fundamental principle: those seeking to join our country should be self-sufficient rather than a drain on our resources. A foreign national’s desire for another nation’s wealth is not a legitimate reason to immigrate.
America is not a global charity; we are a sovereign people. Our nation has a responsibility to use our taxpayer dollars to benefit our nation’s citizens. Texans have been forced to subsidize the lifestyles of foreign workers for too long. For the Cheap Labor lobby, these represent a corporate subsidy that makes up the difference between wages paid and the cost of living in the United States.
Texans for Strong Borders fully supports these actions. We have seen firsthand the consequences of lax enforcement: overwhelmed border communities, skyrocketing crime in some areas, and unsustainable pressure on public services. By targeting welfare dependency, President Trump is not only defending the rule of law—he is protecting the American Dream for citizens who play by the rules.
Our message is simple: Those who break our laws and live off taxpayers are not welcome. We urge all Texans to support these measures by the administration and hold our leaders accountable if they backtrack.