The U.S. Department of Justice is expanding what states are required to report to federal immigration authorities.
Under a new legal opinion issued by the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, states that participate in federal programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) must report people they know are not lawfully present in the United States to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The change affects all agencies within a participating state, not just the agencies that directly manage TANF or SSI programs. The DOJ says states that fail to follow the reporting requirement could face serious consequences, including the loss of federal program funding.
The new opinion reverses a 1998 Office of Legal Counsel interpretation that had taken a narrower approach. Under that earlier interpretation, only the specific state agencies administering TANF or SSI were required to report information to federal immigration authorities.
The DOJ says the new interpretation does not create a new law or new reporting requirement. Instead, the department argues that it is restoring what it believes Congress already required under the 1996 welfare reform law. The opinion applies going forward, meaning states will not face retroactive penalties for following the older 1998 interpretation.
The financial stakes are significant. The DOJ says all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and several U.S. territories currently participate in TANF and SSI, while federal TANF grants total more than $16.4 billion annually.
The change could also mean more state agencies may have to review what information they have about a person’s immigration status and determine when they are legally required to share it with DHS.
For immigrant communities, the policy adds another layer to the federal government’s ongoing immigration enforcement efforts. However, the DOJ opinion itself does not say that every undocumented person will automatically be reported. The requirement applies to people a state knows are not lawfully present and is tied to the federal reporting rules outlined in the law.
