The Department of Homeland Security is focusing on a program that provides cash assistance to certain individuals who are older, blind or disabled.
The Trump administration announced on Monday that it is investigating a California program that has long provided cash assistance to some undocumented immigrants who are older or have disabilities but are not eligible for federal aid.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Los Angeles issued a subpoena to Los Angeles County requesting records that include the identities of people who applied for the state’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, the Department of Homeland Security announced.
The program for decades has provided subsistence-level benefits to impoverished residents 65 or older, as well as those who are blind or have a disability.
California officials said that the program, which has existed since 1998, is paid entirely by state funds because the federal government prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits. Only certain immigrants qualify for the program, they noted, based on their standing with the federal government.
The announcement was the latest indication that President Trump intends to use his federal powers to confront Democratic-led states that offer their own benefits to undocumented immigrants. It was also believed to be one of the first Trump administration requests for state data on undocumented immigrants outside the criminal justice system.
“Radical left politicians in California prioritize illegal aliens over our own citizens,” Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement.