Texas Insider Report WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced the Deporting Fraudsters Act, which would make defrauding the United States or unlawfully obtaining public benefits as grounds for inadmissibility and deportability under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Sen. Cruz said, “Americans who meet eligibility requirements should be the only ones to receive taxpayer-funded benefits. 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.”
Sen. Cornyn said, “Illegal aliens who falsify documents, steal identities, and cheat the system to gain public benefits meant for American citizens, including SNAP or Medicaid, should unquestionably be deported. By ensuring any illegal alien who defrauds the U.S. government can be removed from our country, this commonsense legislation would end the America-last policies of Joe Biden and rightfully put Americans first.”
Sen. Lee said, “For too long, illegal aliens have taken advantage of and burdened our bloated welfare system, contributing to waste, fraud, and abuse. 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. As Democrats put crucial programs like SNAP at risk in a cynical attempt to hold the American people hostage for political gain, it is more important than ever to ensure that public benefits are focused on U.S. citizens and legal residents. Those who invade our country and then abuse our generosity through fraud and theft should be promptly deported.”
Read the bill text here.
Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Dave Taylor (R-Ohio-02).
Rep. Taylor said, “The last Administration’s open border policies put our communities at risk and made every state a border state. Under President Trump, Republicans are bringing back common sense. 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. Law abiding, hard-working Ohioans should not have their tax dollars stolen by illegal aliens who then walk free in our Nation, and I’m proud to champion this bill in the House as Senator Cruz leads the charge in the Senate.”
BACKGROUND
In 2023, 48% of households headed by illegal immigrants received food-related welfare benefits. 17% of illegal immigrant households use SNAP. Of households headed by illegal immigrants, it’s estimated that 59 percent use one or more welfare programs — cash, food assistance, Medicaid, or housing.
Currently, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) does not include welfare fraud in its list of offenses that make an alien deportable or inadmissible to the United States. Instead, the INA includes “moral turpitude” as a catch-all cause for deportation and inadmissibility. The INA’s lack of a specific welfare fraud offense enables lax and inconsistent punishment for welfare fraud by illegal aliens.
