In a directive released last week, President Donald Trump’s administration said that immigrants who do not have permanent legal status would not be able to access certain government programs related to health and education.
The new rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services changes how the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act has been interpreted for almost 30 years. The old rule said that some community-based grant programs didn’t have to collect information like proof of legal status.
“For too long, the government has used tax dollars from hardworking Americans to encourage illegal immigration,” Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a news release.
“Federal public benefits,” which used to include 31 programs that only “qualified aliens” like asylum seekers and refugees could access, have been changed by an order from the Trump administration. Now that 13 more programs have been added to that list, “non-qualified aliens” like people with DACA or Temporary Protected Status can’t get into them.
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, the Health Center Program, and Head Start are some of the other perks. Head Start helps low-income children and families with health, nutrition, early childhood education, and family support.
“Head Start’s classification under the new PRWORA interpretation puts American families first by making sure that taxpayer-funded benefits are only given to people who are eligible,” said Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary at the Administration for Children and Families, in a press release.
Katie Hamm was the deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development in the same area during the Biden administration. She worked there for four years. She said that it is usually up to the local communities to decide which families need Head Start programs the most. She also said that the federal government has never told communities who should be served based on immigration status.
At the moment, there is no direction for implementation. The Department of Health and Human Services said it would give programs that are impacted more information. It’s not clear if the immigration situation of a parent or child would matter or how programs would have to prove that someone is a “qualified alien.”
Hamm said that Head Start workers all over the country are worried and confused about the change.
“Head Start grantees have nothing to lose in this process, and they haven’t been told anything about it,” Hamm said.
She said she was afraid that the advice would keep people who should get help from doing so.
“No matter what the guidance says in the end, it will make people less likely to want to join Head Start,” Hamm said. “Because they are both stupid and scared.”
Before more information comes out, she tells providers not to change how they do business or turn anyone away. She thinks that about 70% of Head Start programs might not have to follow this rule because a federal law says that nonprofits can’t be forced to check someone’s legal status.
The Head Start Act says that a child is eligible for benefits for the whole program year after they are found to be eligible. Before that, Hamm said that no one should be kicked out of school because of their position.
Parents and people who work with Head Start in several states sued the Trump administration, saying that the federal government was trying to shut down the program without permission.
The coalition tried to change its lawsuit on Tuesday, saying that the federal government broke the Administrative Procedure Act and went beyond what the law allowed it to do by including Head Start in the definition of a “federal public benefit.” The group wants to stop the order from being enforced and put into action.
Hamm said that the school has been a safe place for kids and families from all walks of life for decades, offering important services to make sure that kids are mentally, physically, and emotionally ready to learn.
“This is a pretty big change in the philosophy and law behind Head Start,” Hamm said. “Head Start is all about meeting the needs of the community, making services fit the needs of each child, and not asking where a child came from but just accepting them and helping them on their way to school.”
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