Head Start will be cut off for immigrants without legal status, Trump administration says
People in the country illegally are largely ineligible for federal public benefits such as food stamps, student loans and financial aid for higher education. But for decades they have been able to access some community-level programs such as Head Start and community health centers.
HHS said it will reclassify those programs as federal public benefits, excluding immigrants in the country illegally from accessing them. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the changes were part of a larger effort to protect American citizens' interests.
'For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans' tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,' Kennedy said in a statement. 'Today's action changes that — it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.'
A spokesperson for the Administration for Children and Families, which administers Head Start, said that eligibility will be determined based on the child's immigration status.
Requiring proof of immigration status would likely create fear and confusion among families seeking to enroll their children, said Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association.
'This decision undermines the fundamental commitment that the country has made to children and disregards decades of evidence that Head Start is essential to our collective future,' Vinci said.
The changes are part of a multi-agency announcement rescinding an interpretation of federal law dating to former President Bill Clinton's administration, which had allowed immigrants in the country illegally to access some programs. The Education Department, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor announced similar changes affecting a range of workforce development and adult education programs.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
a few seconds ago
- Indian Express
Trump administration to release over $5 billion in school funding after backlash
The administration of US President Donald Trump will release more than $5 billion in school funding that it had frozen earlier this month, following criticism from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Reuters reported. The money, intended for K-12 education programmes, had been withheld as part of a review announced by the White House. States say a total of $6.8 billion in funding was affected, with $1.3 billion already released last week. In a statement sent by email, Madi Biedermann, a senior official at the US Department of Education, said, 'The Office of Management and Budget has completed its review … and has directed the Department to release all formula funds.' 'The agency will begin dispersing funds to states next week,' she added. No details of the review findings were provided. A senior Trump administration official told Reuters that some 'guardrails' would be attached to how the funds are used, but did not give specifics. The Washington Post first reported the release of the $5 billion. Earlier in July, the Trump administration said it had found indications that the money was being misused to support what it called a 'radical leftwing agenda.' The freeze affected funds for teacher training, migrant education, English language learning, and after-school programmes. The decision led to legal action by a group of mostly Democrat-led states. Ten Republican senators also wrote to the Trump administration urging it to reverse the funding freeze. Some Republican lawmakers welcomed Friday's announcement, while Democrats argued the money should never have been withheld. President Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut federal funding for schools and colleges over a range of issues, including climate policies, diversity initiatives, and pro-Palestinian protests related to Israel's war in Gaza.
Economic Times
a few seconds ago
- Economic Times
Greenhouse gases aren't harmful? Donald Trump administration likely to make shocking announcement
Live Events FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel President Donald Trump 's administration is preparing to upend a foundational scientific determination about the harms of greenhouse gases that underpins the US government's ability to curb climate change. A proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to change the so-called "Endangerment Finding" was sent to the White House on June 30, a spokesperson told AFP. An announcement is expected imminently. Here's what to know -- and what's at stake if the finding is Clean Air Act of 1970 empowered the EPA to regulate "air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare." For decades, the law applied to pollutants like lead, ozone and as climate science around the dangers of heat-trapping greenhouse gases advanced in the 2000s, a coalition of states and nonprofit groups petitioned the EPA to include them under the law, focusing on motor issue reached the Supreme Court, which in 2007 ruled that greenhouse gases qualify as air pollutants and directed the EPA to revisit its led to the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health and welfare, based on overwhelming scientific consensus and peer-reviewed research."That 2009 finding formed the basis for all of EPA's subsequent regulations," Meredith Hankins, a senior attorney on climate and energy for the activist Natural Resources Defense Council, told AFP."They've issued greenhouse gas standards for tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles, smokestack emissions from power plants -- all of these individual rulemakings trace themselves back to the 2009 Endangerment Finding."The Endangerment Finding has withstood multiple legal challenges, and although Trump's first administration considered reversing it, they ultimately held the finding is now a direct target of Project 2025, a far-right governance blueprint closely followed by the March, the EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a formal reconsideration of the finding."The Trump Administration will not sacrifice national prosperity, energy security, and the freedom of our people for an agenda that throttles our industries, our mobility, and our consumer choice while benefiting adversaries overseas," he government is expected to undo the earlier finding that greenhouse gases endanger public will argue that the economic costs of regulation have been undervalued -- and downplay the role of US motor vehicle emissions in climate fact, transportation is the largest source of US greenhouse gas 1970, the United States has emitted more vehicle-based greenhouse gases than the next nine countries combined, according to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Integrity that will soon be published in full.A1. President of USA is Donald Trump.A2. The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in US is transportation
Time of India
14 minutes ago
- Time of India
No funds from muzrai temples diverted: DGR
Mangaluru: Minister for health and family welfare, Dinesh Gundu Rao, expressed concern over the spread of false information accusing the govt of diverting revenue from endowment temples for other purposes. Stating that the govt utilises the revenue from muzrai temples exclusively for the development of religious shrines under the department, the minister said that a few organisations have been spreading malicious campaigns against the govt with a political agenda. Rao was speaking at a consultation meeting with the management committee members of temples under the Hindu religious institutions and charitable endowments department on Friday. The Congress govt under chief minister Siddaramaiah increased 'tasdik' (remuneration for archaks) from Rs 24,000 to Rs 36,000 per year, and later to Rs 48,000 during his previous term. "The govt has further increased the tasdik to Rs 72,000. There is a political conspiracy to portray the Congress govt as anti-Hindu," Rao alleged. The state govt passed the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill to make provisions to utilise a portion of revenue from rich temples for the development of Hindu shrines with lower income. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo "While the BJP opposed the bill, the governor has referred it to the President of India for approval," he said, and called upon endowment temple management committees to submit a memorandum to the governor and the President, seeking approval for the bill. MLC Manjunath Bhandary said that to prevent this malicious campaign, all endowment temples should put up notice boards clarifying that 'no funds from Hindu temples are diverted for other purposes.' He demanded that members of all B and C Grade endowment temples should be given ID cards from the department. Shwetha Palli, executive officer of Bappanadu Durgaparameshwari Temple, noted that 493 temples in Dakshina Kannada come under the muzrai department, of which 10 generate the highest income. MLC Ivan D'Souza, deputy commissioner Darshan HV and zilla panchayat CEO Narwade Vinayak Karbhari were present.
