GOP senators push to deport illegal immigrant welfare ‘fraudsters’

WASHINGTON — A group of GOP senators is unveiling new legislation to automatically deport and permanently ban the entry of illegal immigrants who are caught on welfare or other public benefits programs.

The Deporting Fraudsters Act, unveiled by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), would also clarify in federal law that any illegal immigrant convicted of defrauding the US government is inadmissible and deportable.

“Americans who meet eligibility requirements should be the only ones to receive taxpayer-funded benefits,” Cruz said in a statement to The Post.

“Under the Biden administration’s border policies, abuse of these programs by illegal aliens increased. This bill will stem that abuse, and I urge my colleagues to pass this bill without delay.”

The measure modifies the Immigration and Nationality Act to ensure the automatic deportation and inadmissibility of illegal immigrants caught defrauding and mooching off Uncle Sam.

Inadmissibility means that illegal immigrants would be blocked from obtaining visas and returning to the United States after being deported.

At the moment, the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn’t include welfare fraud as a deportable or inadmissible offense, but instead mentions “moral turpitude,” which the senators feel is too vague and has led to inconsistent penalties.

“Illegal aliens who falsify documents, steal identities, and cheat the system to gain public benefits meant for American citizens, including SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] or Medicaid, should unquestionably be deported,” Cornyn said.

The Trump administration has been cracking down on ways in which illegal immigrants fraudulently obtain official federal or state documents, such as commercial driver’s licenses (CDL).

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have been accusing Democrats of fighting to give healthcare benefits to individuals who haven’t been given legal status in the US as part of their government shutdown demands.

While federal law bars illegal immigrants from getting federal healthcare benefits, Democrats have demanded that Republicans reverse Medicaid reforms passed earlier this year to block funding for the roughly 1.4 million migrants deemed “lawfully present” in the US but lack court-enforceable legal status.

In 2022, an estimated 48% of families with illegal immigrants at the head of the household have reaped benefits from SNAP, according to a study by the Center for Immigration Studies.

Of those families, 59% use some form of welfare, per that study.

“By some estimates, these individuals receive $42 billion in public benefits every year. This bill will ensure that illegal aliens who steal the tax dollars of hardworking Americans are subject to deportation,” Lee said.

“Those who invade our country and then abuse our generosity through fraud and theft should be promptly deported.”

Rep. Dave Taylor (R-Ohio) is rolling out companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

“If an illegal alien defrauds the United States or steals benefits from our country’s most vulnerable, it should be a no-brainer that they be permanently removed from the United States,” he said. “Law-abiding, hard-working Ohioans should not have their tax dollars stolen by illegal aliens.”